


Three Bloods- Second Year

by Obsessedwithfanfiction



Series: Three Bloods [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Aftermath of Torture, Back by popular demand except not because no-one wants this, Discussion of Torture, Diverts from canon if we're taking Cursed Child as canon, Everyone is 13 now, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Look at them grow, Magical shenannigans, Maybe a lil more romance but they're still kids, No rape occurs in this fic, Teenage Drama, The villains are kinda incestuous and it's gross, This is going to be a wild ride considering I haven't read through this in a year, discussions of rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-22 20:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 85,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14316768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessedwithfanfiction/pseuds/Obsessedwithfanfiction
Summary: Our eight Hogwarts students have survived their first year- barely. The mystery under the castle is just becoming more complicated, while Jayna's mind struggles to heal from the events of her torture. With strange tests beckoning and unwanted secrets being uncovered, will the fragile team rise-up or break apart?





	1. Of Two Friends and Two Hot Gryffindors

Two towns over from Erith, was the village of Alpra. In the village of Alpra, as it is with most villages, there was quite a few houses, a park, a corner-shop of some sort and that huge main road that every child is warned about by their parents until they are so terrified they make a special effort to avoid crossing it at all costs, until they reach high school when they suddenly decide it’s the best place to do something stupid.

Right by the main road, there were two rows of houses. On one side of the road there was also the park, and it was the next house on the left from the park where a particular family of four lived.

They’d moved there when their daughter was six, from the south (the farmer part of the south as opposed to the posh part), and had lived there now for seven years. The family consisted of a dog, a girl, her mother and her father. Of course, no-one would say they were ordinary. The girl and her father’s shared sense of humour went over most people’s heads, the mother and the father weren’t married (the scandal) and half of the family were magical.

Not in the amazing sense, for all four of them had enough of that, but literally; they both had wands, had both attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and both occasionally wore robes instead of t-shirts and jeans. The mother and the dog were unaware of this magic, much to the annoyance of the girl. Apart from this, they lived normally; both parents worked full-time now their daughter was at boarding school and the dog was happy as ever.

In the world, I believe there to be seven levels of friendship. Level One refers to the people who you know the first and last name of and whom you talk to outside a class or waiting for your bus, but wouldn’t seek conversation with. Level Two refers to your parents’ friends’ children. You know, the ones who you see maybe four times a year and you have fun talking casually to, but you don’t talk to them outside of these four visits. Level Three refers to the people you don’t get tired of talking to, but you can’t stand silences between you. You can’t imagine just sitting next to them for three hours in silence reading a book each. Level four includes the silences. Level Five are those rare individuals that you would pretend to be their date for if they were ever being hit on by someone creepy in a bar, with all acting included, and you wouldn’t feel at all weird about it afterwards. Level six is level five plus not actually acting when the creepy person hits on them.

Level seven is sharing a grave.

So of course, life in Alpra for this particular family of four changed when Lydjah Dawson met Jayna Blackwood. Oh she didn’t know it then, and it was really nobody’s fault that they became such good friends, but one moment they were casual level three friends, and the next they were at solid level five. One moment, Jayna’s family was alive and the next they were not. One moment, neither of them had a best friend, and the next they’d made a friendship that would span eleven decades through the simple question of ‘can I stay with you?’.

However, they’d had a decade apart before they’d had a decade together. And if there was one thing that her Pureblood upbringing had ingrained in her completely, Jayna would say it was that you can never dress up too much for a party.

So, when Lydjah opened Jayna’s bedroom door and found her friend sat despondent on her bed, still in her pyjamas despite the fact that they only had an hour before they should leave, it didn’t take much to put two and two together.

“You haven’t got an outfit, have you?”

“No.”

Their summer, up unto this point, had been mostly uneventful. Lydjah has introduced Jayna to the cinema (they had gone to see _Captain Marvel_ more times than either of them would ever admit and more times than Alen would pay for) and she’d read the entire _Game of Thrones_ series at Alen’s recommendation, and now all four of them were watching the TV show together (a source of great embarrassment for Lydjah and Jayna and therefore great amusement for Alen and Sophia). The rest of the time had been spent lounging about in the unfamiliar sunshine just enjoying not being in school; they planned to hopefully go to France next year but this year Alen’s work had got in the way. Speaking of Alen, they’d been pushing him for an exact date as to when he was going to tell Sophia about magic but he kept procrastinating it and pushing it back (by distracting the girls with various treats and bribes that they unashamedly fell for).

Their school letters were supposed to come any day now, not that they had anything new in them except school supplies for the various subject changes and the next book in each core subject. Letters from their friends had been entirely different; they were practically bursting with interesting news. Both Lydjah and Jayna were feeling magic withdrawal and couldn’t wait to go to the Potters’ where they could finally use the wands that were gathering dust in their respective drawers.

“DAD!” Alen, after having to deal with thirteen years of Lydjah’s rubbish immune system and hence lots of running up the stairs to get to his daughter before she threw up, came barrelling through the door like there was no tomorrow.

“What is it?” He exclaimed, breathless, scanning the room for signs of danger.

“Emergency shopping trip needed; right now.” Thankfully, he was more relieved than cross. A giant sheepish smile spread across Jayna’s face and she jumped up. Neither Lydjah nor Alen reminded her she was in her pyjamas thinking it would be much funnier to let her work that out on her own.

“Sophia!” All of Lydjah’s family found shouting to each other was much easier than having to get up and find the person and so none of them minded the screaming matches that often occurred in their house.

“What?” She called back.

“I’m just taking the girls to the park for an hour to run off some steam before their party!” ‘To the park’ was always their excuse if they were going to apparate; Sophia wouldn’t come and check on them unless it was an emergency because of the ‘overwhelming’ butterfly population there (there had been one, once, but since then she refrained from coming anywhere near it), and she wouldn’t get suspicious that the car was still in the drive.

“‘Run off some steam’? They’re not five Alen!”

“See you later! Love you!” By this point the girls and Alen were stood on the front doorstep, waving to Sophia who was watching the TV in the lounge.

“Bye mum!”

“Bye Sophia!” With that they all wandered down the drive until they were out of sight of Sophia and then, grabbing a hand of Alen’s each, disapparated to Diagon Alley.

 

It took them all of ten minutes to get to Gringotts, and all of fifteen for Jayna to realise she was in her pyjamas. Needless to say the goblins were not very impressed as they travelled down to her vault, Alen and Lydjah were in hysterics and Jayna was equal parts angry and mortified. It didn’t help that these were the very same cow pyjamas that Sam and James had found her in the year before.

She took a small sum of money out of her ridiculously full vault. Jayna and Cara had each inherited half of almost every single member of their family’s wealth and the number was so great that they had to get a vault each. Jayna had always been well-off but coming to Gringotts now was rather terrifying. She had, of course, insisted that Alen and Sophia take whatever they needed to house her during the holidays, but even that had barely made a dent in the money she had to her name. They’d sold all of their family’s properties but kept many of the heirlooms, which were all in Cara’s vault because they hadn’t sorted through them yet. Cara was living with Willow and her family (they were happy to have her; the two had been best friends since they could talk) in the holidays but the two sisters had met up a lot over the summer, although their last meeting had ended in tears.

When they reached the exit to Gringotts Lydjah was utterly amazed to see Jayna voluntarily sprint all the way to Twillfit and Tatting’s, dash in through the door and beg for a party dress before Lydjah and Alen had even stepped out of the bank. Lydjah and Alen shared a look; Twillfit and Tatting’s was a very upmarket shop; only the richest could afford it and, while the Dawson’s were not poor, this was one luxury they’d never seen the point in expending upon. They entered just in time to hear Jayna’s exclamation.

“I’m Jayna _Blackwood_! I’ve been coming here for years! Honestly just because I’m in my sleepwear.” The shop-owner, who’d previously been about to throw the pyjama-clad girl out of her shop, froze.

“Jayna?” Jayna raised an eyebrow. “Merlin I’m so sorry. What did you say you wanted- Who are _you_?” She addressed Lydjah and Alen with derision. Alen bristled.

“This is my adopted family the Dawsons.” Jayna explained, in a tone that quite clearly conveyed that if the shop-keeper did another thing to offend her she was leaving and taking her money with her.

“Right.” The flustered shop-owner decided to ignore Lydjah and Alen and focused once again on Jayna.

“I want a party dress and matching shoes. I don’t really care what the style is or whatever as long as it looks pretty on me and can be ready within the next forty minutes.” Twenty minutes later Jayna had found the right outfit (she was quite good at shopping quickly; Lydjah was _not_ ); a dark-green, short, ruffled dress with a matching coloured shrug and some killer gold wedges, very similar to the ones she used to own before the fire. It wasn’t too posh (I mean this was a party that James Potter and Sam Andrews were coming to after all) but it was definitely a party outfit. Lydjah personally thought they could’ve bought a very similar outfit from somewhere else for half the price but hey, if you had that kind of money why wouldn’t you spend it on Acromantula-spun silk?

“Do you think it’s so expensive because people died retrieving the silk?” Alen muttered as Jayna brought out the money to pay. Lydjah tried and failed to stifle a laugh that earnt her a glare from the frazzled shopkeeper. Jayna decided that she’d stay in the dress instead of getting changed back into her pyjamas despite the Dawsons’ protests that she looked very cute as a cow.

They apparated back home again giving Lydjah time to change (she was wearing a relatively short dark-blue dress that had no back but criss-cross straps and the largest heels she could get away with walking in (which weren’t that large) in order to feel slightly less tiny when stood next to Jayna. _Ah well_ , Lydjah thought, _at least I won’t be as short as Lien_ ). Jayna didn’t wear make-up and Lydjah had already applied hers so they were all set to go.

They’d told Sophia that they were catching the bus to Erith, which was two towns over, and that Alen was just dropping them off at the bus stop when in reality they were going to Godric’s Hollow. Again they didn’t need the car to get to the ‘bus-stop’ though Alen did get a little cross about being used as a taxi-driver. Lydjah and Jayna knew it was just because he was nervous; he was supposed to be telling Sophia about magic while they were at the party. Just as they disapparated they heard the phone ring and Sophia’s sigh of exasperation as she went to get it.

They had to go apparate straight into the front garden of the Potters’ house (inside their magical concealment charms) because it was a mixed magical and Muggle neighbourhood. Luckily Alen had been to Godric’s Hollow before because of work so he knew where he was going. They’d barely been there two seconds when Sam Andrews came crashing out of the front door, with what looked like a water gun in her hand. She’d grown maybe half an inch since they’d last seen her (which annoyed Lydjah as she had also, putting them back at the same height again. Although, Lydjah’s current heels put her slightly higher) and was also almost completely soaked. She spied the two of them and ran over, grinning. They smiled back, expecting some kind of greeting but instead she turned her head back towards the house.

“James! Reinforcements!” Alen took one look at the water gun in her hand and decided he had best make his escape.

“See you later girls!” He disapparated before Lydjah could even hug him goodbye, much to her annoyance. James Potter took that moment to come bounding out of his house, his own gun clutched at his side. He had grown a whole inch if his clearly visible ankles were anything to go by. His hair looked crazier than they had ever seen it; apparently water had a frizzing effect. His glasses were mostly fogged up (which might explain why he crashed into the plant pot and toppled over it on his way to greet them). They rushed over and helped him up as he wiped his glasses clean and smeared the mud on his face even more with the back of his sleeve. When he brought his arm back and saw the stain he paled.  
“Blackwood please clean my sleeve otherwise my mum is going to kill me.” Jayna had been expecting the first words he’d say to her after a month and a half (not including letters) would be something along the lines of ‘hello’ but she’d make do. She quickly scourgified his sleeve, ignored his over-dramatic promises of being eternally in her debt and inquired about the water guns.

“What are they?” In response, Sam shot it in her face. They all froze, wondering what Jayna’s reaction was going to be (she still had her wand out after all) but to their surprise she grinned widely.

“Muggle _Aguamenti_ Charms?”

“Yeah. They’re called water-guns.” Jayna’s eyes widened.

“I thought you said guns were like killing curses!” James frowned.

“Well they are, normal ones, but these only shoot water.”

“It’s a bit morbid isn’t it? Children’s toys based on things that kill.” Either because he didn’t understand the word ‘morbid’ or because he wasn’t interested in getting into a debate, James didn’t argue the point.

“Ok so basically it’s me, Sam, Fred and you two against Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, Lily, Hugo, Lien, Scorpius and Albus.” He said, duplicating his gun twice and passing one each to the two bewildered Ravenclaws. “And you can’t have more than one gun each.”

“Why are there so many more people on the other team?” Lydjah asked.

“Because Lucy only ever plays with Molly and Lily only ever plays with Al and Hugo only ever plays with Lily and Roxanne wanted all the firsties on her team.” He stated this like they were some of the truths of the universe; Sam and Jayna were nodding like they completely understood. Lydjah assumed it was a sibling thing.

“They’re not firsties anymore.” Jayna pointed out. Lydjah shot her best friend her finally perfected ‘we-know-you’re-right-but-no-one-cares’ look. Just then, Molly Weasley, Lucy Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy ran out, screaming a battle-cry (well, Molly and Scorpius were screaming; Lucy was smiling slightly, twisting a lock of hair around her finger as she gripped her gun loosely in their direction). Molly had grown another inch, as had Scorpius, but other than that they looked the same as ever, if a little sunburnt on Molly’s part. Jayna had a split second to be glad that Scorpius was able to let loose and just be a kid for once before pegging it round the other side of the house.

“Duck!” A male voice shouted from the balcony above their heads. Instinctively the four of them ducked into the side of the house just missing the barrage of water balloons that quite literally rained from above causing Molly and co to make a hasty retreat.

“This is absolutely bloody insane!” Jayna laughed, figuring out the trigger on her water gun. She slipped off her heels and carefully Imperviused them before leaving them next to the side of the house.

“Thanks Fred!” James called up.

“No problem little cuz!” James scowled at being called little though he felt better when he stood next to Jayna once she’d taken her heels off; he was two inches taller than her now. She glared at his smug expression, shooting him with a quick burst of water. He grinned playfully, advancing on her.

“Attempted mutiny in the ranks! This calls for punishment!” He chased her round into the first field of the garden (the other team had their base in the second), both of them giggling. Lydjah and Sam sauntered more casually down, keeping an eye out for the opposition.

“Honestly if it wasn’t Jayna I’d say James was flirting.” Sam said mildly. When Lydjah gave no reply she turned to her friend only to see her resurface from a strange trance. “You had a vision!” Sam exclaimed excitedly. “Tell me!”

“No.”

“Come _on_ Lydjah!” Lydjah made a face but she was caving easily.

“You can’t tell anyone. That includes James.” Sam pouted sarcastically but agreed.

“ _A night-like room, all dark blues and purples, with hard stone floor and walls. There’s a thin puddle of water, in which Jayna is lying, possibly coming from her clothes as she’s completely soaked. It’s hard to see her appearance in the light but she’s older definitely, and more tired too. She reaches up clumsily with her right hand, which is shaking slightly, and cups James’ face, before aligning her lips with his_.”

“What?! Oh my fucking Merlin. You’re _sure_ it was James she was snogging? And are your visions always triggered by something you’ve seen; like the water in this case?”

“For the latter, usually yeah. Most of the time it’s rooms that I’ve walked past. And they’re usually not this far in advance either. When I had that concussion though… It was all over the place and entirely irrelevant to what I was literally seeing. For the former… I don’t make the visions.” Lydjah said, jokingly holding her hands up in the surrender sign. “They didn’t actually kiss anyway; they just looked extremely close to it. I’m not sure; maybe they’re not actually going to snog at all.” Sam gave her a disbelieving look.

“I hadn’t thought about it myself but maybe it would work…” Sam said thoughtfully, cocking her head at the two teenagers who had finally stopped play-fighting. Jayna was clearly upset; Lydjah assumed it had something to do with the slight rip in her dress.

“James Potter I’m going to kill you!” She announced, marching behind him from where he’d started to wander off. She could repair her dress easily but that wasn’t the point.

“Or, you know, maybe not.” Sam cackled, only for Lydjah’s ears.

“Whatever Blackwood.” James said, uninterested as he wiped his glasses on his knee. Before he put them back on, however, he crashed into one of the patio-chairs where a blurry blonde-haired beauty was sitting. He assumed it was one of Roxanne’s friends. “Oh hey there.” He said flirtatiously, flashing the infamous Potter grin. Jayna tapped him on the shoulder. “What do you want Blackwood?” He asked, irritated, turning around to face her with an apologetic smile at the beauty as he slipped his glasses back on.

“That’s your cousin.” Jayna said flatly, and with that walked inside to get a drink and thank her hosts. James turned round to see Victoire choking on an ice cube that she’d accidently swallowed too early in her laughter. Teddy was sat next to her, his arm swung round her back (currently patting it gently trying to get his girlfriend to stop choking), raising his eyebrows at James.

“Something you want to tell me James?” James spluttered and narrowed his eyes when Sam’s loud laughter came from behind him where Lydjah and his best friend were holding each other up from laughing so much, before reluctantly joining in himself and apologising to Victoire.

“I can’t believe-” Sam began, almost biting her own tongue in her hilarity.

“I know right- Kissing- As if- Ha!” Lydjah agreed. James gave them a concerned look just as Jayna barrelled past again, carrying three drinks. James attempted to steal one but she gave him a look that rivalled his mother’s in intensity so he went to get his own.

“For you two idiots.” Jayna said, passing the drinks to Lydjah and Sam before taking a sip of her own. She blinked rapidly and peered into her cup.

“Is yours alright Jayna? You’re looking at it like you’ve never had Coke before.” Sam laughed.

“I’ve never had Coke before.” Sam gaped at her.

“What the Hell have your parents been feeding her?” Sam accused Lydjah. Lydjah shrugged.

“We’re just not a Coke family I guess.” They then both sniggered at the implication that everyone else’s families were on drugs, much to the bewilderment of Jayna.

“You know where to buy this?” Jayna asked excitedly of Sam.

“Er, yeah; any supermarket, most corner shops-”

“It’s wonderful!”

“Wait till you try Fanta.” Lydjah said.

“Porque?”

“You can buy raspberry flavoured Fanta.” Jayna’s eyes widened in delight.

“No way!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that excited over a drink.” James said from behind them. Jayna swotted at him but her anger seemed to have vanished. “I’ve called for a ceasefire so we can sort out this whole task thing.” James continued, gesturing at the patio doors where Molly, Scorpius, Lien Irby and Albus Potter were emerging, laden with snacks and drinks.

They moved away from the party (technically three of them weren’t even invited for the birthday girl anyway) and into the second field where they settled into the den made by Lucy, Lily and Hugo. Sam produced the rewritten copy of the parchment (the _Gemino_ spell had worn off after a while but not before Sam had the good sense to write out the words onto a new piece of paper) from the guardian of the Secret from her back pocket and they all hunched over it.

‘ _Congratulations on completing the final Starter test. You were wise to realise the Quintaped was a fight you could not win._

_Please choose a category to proceed:_

_Charms  
Riddles  
Choices  
Endurance  
Illusions_ ’

“Riddles doesn’t sound too hard. I mean sure they’re bound to be complicated but not life-threatening.” Lien pointed out, munching on a chocolate cauldron.

“What if it has some kind of count-down again? And if I was put in charge of working out a riddle while you lot were all slowly dying… You’d all be extremely dead by the time I worked out the answer.” Jayna countered, gesturing with the spoon from her ice cream tub (the sad truth was at the moment Jayna could only eat her favourite food in a tub because of her tongue-tie, a fact that she hated and Lydjah loved to tease about). Ordinarily most of them would’ve laughed at Jayna’s description but after the events of last year no-one felt like joking about death.

“Well if we have to do all of them to get to this thing why don’t we just do them in order?” Scorpius suggested. The group agreed to this as they chewed on their snacks, all of them feeling very far away from the dark depths under the school as they did so.

 

A little while later a lot had happened. Lily, Hugo, Lucy, Roxanne and Rose had been uninformed about the temporary truce and had instead thought James, Sam, Jayna and Lydjah had taken the other four hostage, and so naturally had accosted the only remaining member of their team before coming to attack them. A second water-fight had ensued this time with almost all parties present on the battlefield and the four no-longer-first years re-joining their original team, claiming they’d been lured in with food. The four no-longer-second-years had to fight with their wands (using only the _Aguamenti_ charm though everyone was casting suspicious looks at James and Sam when a member of the other team suddenly fell flat on their face apparently for no reason (it was actually Lydjah who was performing the trip jinxes; she was just using everyone’s natural healthy distrust of James and Sam to her advantage)) as they’d left their guns just outside the house (and Jayna and Lydjah’s had disappeared anyway, being only copies of an original gun). After a while the four of them managed to regroup for long enough to work out a plan.

“We let poor Fred be captured; we need to go find him.”

“Agreed.” Sam said. She admired Fred Weasley’s jokes; he was more the entertainment sort, displaying his talent in regular set-up shows to small audiences as opposed to Phase Two who ‘subtly’ did rare but complicated and diverse school-wide pranks. “Phase Two should go get him I mean we know him best.”

“What the Hell’s with this ‘Phase Two’ business?” It was a question that had been bugging Lydjah since the end-of-term feast but she kept forgetting to ask.

“Well it’s kind of got a double meaning,” James fired a shot over the remains of the den at Hugo who’d come too close for comfort (the ten year old quickly dodged behind the fence), “One; there’s two of us, obviously, and two; we’re the second phase of Marauders.”

“Was your dad not the second phase of Marauders?”

“No because he was mostly too busy saving the world to play pranks. I mean he got the occasional one in there but from what I’ve heard it’s nothing on the original Marauders. I mean, they managed to become Animaguses and make the Map; clearly they were intelligent and had a lot of time on their hands.”

“Cool. But I don’t think _you_ should go to get Fred.” Jayna said.

“What, why?”

“You two are our best shots. I think we should send one person while the other three cover them.”

“Ok; which one of you two then?” Lydjah and Jayna shared a look and had a silent conversation.

“I’ll go.” Lydjah announced, turning back to James and Sam.

“Alright. On three we’ll charge towards those guys and distract them while Lydjah goes through the gap in the fence. Once we see she’s out of the field we’ll fall back and regroup behind the den again, yeah?” Looking at him now, Sam could see so much of Harry in him. It was obvious that James was destined to be an Auror, just as it was obvious that Albus was destined to play professional Quidditch and Fred and Roxanne were going to run their dad and uncle’s joke shop. Sam just hoped that she’d be fighting just as faithfully alongside him then as she was now, whatever he ended up being.

She wouldn’t, but again, that’s neither here nor there.

“Three, two, one, CHARGE!”

For the entire charge Lydjah couldn’t really remember anything but the euphoric adrenaline pumping through her veins, the excited giggles spewing from her mouth and vibrating through her skin and the greenness of the grass. Then she was through the fence and jogging swiftly towards the house, throwing her slightly damp hair over one shoulder.

Victoire and Teddy were sat two metres away from each other in the lounge, pained looks on their faces as the other adults separated them and laughed at Bill’s stony face. Lydjah gathered it had something to do with the plan James had mentioned in one of his letters; Victoire meant to go with Teddy on his next tour of the world that started in September; he’d done Europe so now they were going to Asia. Needless to say, Bill wasn’t very keen on the idea though the rest of their family were wearing him down. She smiled at them all as she passed, which they returned, before disappearing up the stairs.

She wandered around for a while, feeling rather intrusive and not wanting to just burst into someone’s bedroom. Why had she volunteered for this in the first place?

It wasn’t until she reached James’ room, obvious from the sheer number of Quidditch posters and red and gold bedcovers (Albus’ room was dark green, not that you could see it well as his walls were covered in photos), that she finally found Fred Weasley.

The first thing she noticed was that Fred was very ginger. Of course, this was obvious as he was a Weasley and the colour was so glaringly bright that no-one could ever forget this fact. The second, apart from noting various other Weasley traits; the freckles and the slightly longer-than-perfect nose, was that he was strung upside down by the _Levicorpus_ spell.

She made a move to get her wand out to help him, only to realise he had his own in his front pocket, and she was sure he was perfectly capable of undoing the not-quite-second-years-yet’s magic. So why hadn’t he?

“Oh hey; Lydjah right?” He grinned widely at her and she found herself smiling back. His cheeks had heated a little, not that Lydjah noticed as his whole face was rather red from being upside-down for so long.

“Yeah… Why haven’t you let yourself down?” In response, Fred waved his left hand slightly. He was holding a rather large cream pie, or rather half of one.

“If I let myself down I’d have to take a break from eating this. One does not easily give up my dad’s cooking.” It was after he uttered this sentence that Lydjah had the strangest sense of Deja vu (and she would know) as if she was trying to see a vision of herself, but couldn’t quite manage it. Her stomach flipped over, her eyes fluttered and she gave an involuntary snort that she tried to cover with one hand.

“Did the other team give you that so you wouldn’t join in the second water-fight?” He somehow managed to shrug, though the gesture was very strange.

“Suppose so. Guess it worked.” Lydjah couldn’t help herself; she burst out laughing. He grinned again with pride, glad to have made her laugh.

“Would you like a hand down?” She finally choked out. He shook his head.

“I got this.” He took out his wand with his free hand, the pie balancing precariously in the other, and flicked it quickly, managing to roll slightly as he fell so he landed on his arse instead of his head, the pie completely intact. He took another bite as he jumped to his feet, causing a bit of cream to smear across his face. Lydjah wondered vaguely what he’d do if she reached to wipe it off with her thumb, before he solved her problem for her by licking it off. “You’re a Halfblood right?”

“Yes?”

“Well it’s just there’s something wrong with my phone, and I think you might be able to fix it.” He brought out an old windows phone, but apart from its age it looked perfectly serviceable to Lydjah’s rather limited knowledge.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It doesn’t have your number.” Fred held the phone out to her, an offer. She blinked, a little stunned at the smoothness of that pick-up line before numbly reaching out and making a new contact on his phone.

She handed it back, raising her eyebrows. “You barely know me.” She accused softly, real confusion behind her statement. Fred grinned widely again.

“Saw you dancing at Blackwood’s party and I’ve wanted to ask you out since then; a girl who can hold that much alcohol and still dance and speak coherently is pretty much perfect in my book.” Lydjah laughed and blushed in equal parts.

“My one and only skill I assure you.”

“I highly doubt that.” He quipped lightly. “You coming?”

“Where?” She asked, bewildered (but not in any way upset) about the entire meeting.

“Back to the water-fight of course; I can’t let down James; he’d never let me hear the end of it. The food thing stays between us yeah?” Lydjah smiled mischievously.

“Can’t make me.” With that she took off, ignoring Fred’s protests of it being unfair because he couldn’t run with a pie.


	2. Of Summer, Shopping and School

The four firsties-no-longer had decided to meet up in Diagon Alley two and a half weeks before they were due to go back to school to buy their school stuff and get some ice-cream. They’d all had busy summers, though they all thought the biggest event had yet to happen; namely the final match of the Quidditch World Cup which was to be held the day after next. A ‘freak’ lightning storm (well there were various accusing fingers being pointed to those teams who had not quite made it in) that had hit the stadium after the semi-finals at the end of July caused the match to be put back all the way until then as they rebuilt the stadium and got rid of the many creatures who had been attracted to the lightning (not a normal effect of a lightning storm causing even more accusations).

They’d only barely made their greetings in the Leaky Cauldron before Albus launched excitedly into the newest update on the teams from his mum, who was, of course, reporting the entire thing. When Albus had finally paused for breath (his father was looking at him in astonishment; what on earth had got into the quiet boy he had sent on the train last year?), Harry quickly went over the instructions again; emergency meeting point was Rosa Lee Teabag’s; Audrey’s favourite tea-shop, where the adults would be staying for the entire trip. They had to stay together, they had to be sensible, and if something completely awful happened they had to shoot red sparks out from their wands to alert their parents as to where they were.

The adults only consisted of Harry and Audrey as Lien was sleeping over at Molly’s that night and Draco had thought it was best to just make sure his son was ok and then leave as quickly as possible before Harry could awkwardly offer if he’d like to go with them and he could awkwardly decline. When they were finally satisfied that the children were aware of their instructions they led the kids into Diagon Alley and then parted ways. The children had all been given money by their parents to cover their school supplies (though Lien had had to stop by at Gringotts earlier in the week to convert it into Wizarding money).

“Where do you want to go first?” Albus asked excitedly, clutching his school equipment letter in his hand.

“Well if we have to buy all the boring stuff we might as well do that first and then we have something to look forward to.” Scorpius suggested. The other three agreed, and they took off towards Amanuensis Quills.

“So; what’s everyone been up to?” Albus ventured as he perused between the aisles of the shop. “I mean we didn’t really get a chance to talk at the party.” They all grinned as they remembered the water fight; with their superior numbers their team had finally captured James, Sam and Jayna (Lydjah and Fred were suspiciously absent until it was time for Lydjah to go home) and Roxanne had led a very smug song of ‘Happy Birthday to you’ for herself. After this she had stuck James’ hand to a pot of gravy, and he’d had the amusing response of ‘Not again!’ which had caused all the Weasley/Potters to laugh and those not used to this reoccurring tradition to be a faintly confused.

“Well I went to Tenerife.” Lien said with a grin. “With my family and my parents’ friends and their sons, the Parrahs.”

“Oh?” Molly nudged her, waggling her eyebrows. Lien blushed but dug into her small handbag to pass round a photo of the eight of them on the beach.

“Not like that! Kyle’s _way_ too old for me and Rian… I could never see him like that.” Molly gave her a look.

“Well if you’re not having him I’m sure plenty of people would! Have you seen those _abs_?!” Lien laughed and Scorpius pretended he didn’t notice Albus glancing at his own chest.

“Anyway; where on earth did you go Mol? You’re browner than chocolate!” Molly grinned, admiring her bronze hands.

“Than white chocolate maybe. We went to Egypt. Dad had to go with work and he grudgingly took the rest of us with him. Of course he was really boring dragging us round all these museums but mum got him to back off a bit and managed to sneak in a couple of camel rides about the place while dad was checking the Floo to England for the Egyptian Minister of Magic.”

“Wow.” Scorpius said raising his eyebrows. If it had been anyone other than Scorpius, Molly would’ve thought they were taking the mickey by their tone but Scorpius never said anything with above minimum excitement. “I haven’t done much. Just sort of slept really.” The other three laughed but internally they were all wondering just how lonely Scorpius must be in that huge house.

“Did you do any more drawing?” Albus asked slyly. Scorpius froze.

“W-what?” He choked out. The other two stopped to stare at him, putting down the quills they were admiring. Scorpius sounding less than composed?

“Oh come on; I’ve shared a room with you for the past year. You honestly think I didn’t notice you doing your ‘homework’ every day? Especially on the days that we hadn’t received any?” Scorpius glared at him. Albus seemed to realise that he’d hit a nerve because his smug grin turned down a notch and he poked his friend with a quill feather, right on the nose. Scorpius gave him an utterly befuddled look as the two girls clutched each other with laughter.

“Your face!” Lien gasped out.

“Are you going to pay for those?” A particularly bored and nasally sounding shop assistant came up from behind Molly. They all jumped in surprise and Lien and Molly shared slightly scared looks.

“Yes!” Lien squeaked out, grabbing Molly’s arm. “We were just on our way now!” She dragged Molly off towards the desk at the front of the shop, hurriedly bringing out her purse as she went. Once the creepy shop assistant had disappeared off to scare someone else Albus turned back to Scorpius who was determinedly looking at two identical quills as if there was a difference between them.

“I thought they were pretty good actually.” Scorpius dropped one of the quills and immediately bent to pick it up, his entire face going beetroot red. Al hadn’t realised this was such a big thing to his friend; he’d only thought that Scorpius might not want people to know because they wouldn’t think it was very macho. Now he realised that Scorpius didn’t give a damn about appearing macho and he probably shouldn’t have brought it up so callously.

“You looked at them?” He hissed. Albus winced.

“Yeah. And Sam says the one you did for Jayna is at the front of her bedside-table.” Scorpius placed the quills back on the shelf carefully, trying to control his shaking hands. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so upset, or even if he was upset. His drawing was his secret and he didn’t like other people knowing about it. He hadn’t liked Jayna knowing about it, and he wasn’t quite sure what had possessed him to paint the picture for her only one moment he was just sketching and the next he had a fully detailed drawing of that Christmas Social. Thank Merlin he’d managed to get out of the latest Christmas one by staying at Hogwarts but he’d been dragged to three over the summer.

“Which ones did you see?” He didn’t look at Al as he spoke.

“Just the sketches of your parents.” Scorpius breathed an internal sigh of relief. “So do you just do pictures of people?”

“Yeah; haven’t ever seen the point of drawing what someone could just go and see for themselves or have actual photos of. And surrealism has never been my thing. Look, Al, I know you didn’t mean anything by it… But art’s kind of my outlet I suppose, like yours is Quidditch. It’s very personal to me and I just- It’s not a thing I show to people often.”  
“I get it. I’ll stay away from your drawings from now on, alright, unless you say otherwise.” Scorpius settled back into himself and gave his usual half-smile in gratitude.

“Go, go, go!” Molly and Lien had returned and were gesturing urgently towards the door. “The creepy guy’s coming back!” Albus risked a glance to the end of the aisle where the spotty shop assistant was walking towards them before promptly speeding out of the shop.

 

By the time the four of them made it back towards the adults they were laden down with several hours’ worth of shopping. They’d all bought _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2)_ by Miranda Goshawk, both Lien and Albus bought a new set of phials (glass and crystal respectively) having each broken at least one the year before while Molly and Scorpius both bought an extra Transfiguration book. Molly and Scorpius had spent a good portion of the time conversing between themselves as Albus excitedly showed Lien round a number of different broom shops and then they’d all grabbed an ice cream. They’d sat to eat the ice-cream on one of the street corners, something that would become a habit to them in the following years, and merely chatted until it was time to meet up with Harry and Audrey.

Of course, considering it was them, the shopping trip could not go so easily.

Molly heard the tell-tale crack of an untalented apparator before anyone else did. She thought nothing of it for the first two seconds, after all; people apparated from Diagon Alley all the time. It was only when a huge whoosh of fire exploded in the nearest building to them, blowing the roof off and shattering all the windows, that she finally saw the apparator.

She thought they were cleverer than the Death Eaters, because while the Death Eaters had masks to protect their identity it wasn’t as if the sinister black robes were exactly inconspicuous. The man who had cast the fiery curse was wearing normal Wizarding robes, same as everyone else, and he disapparated again before anyone could take more than a note of his gender.

Albus was the next one to react, loudly enough to yank the rest of them out of their stupor, with a cry of horror as he registered which particular building had gone up in flames. It was, of course, Rosa Lee Teabag’s. The four of them immediately registered that this was a specific attack on Harry as why on earth else would you blow up a café?  
Lien was third, almost robotically throwing her wand arm into the air and shouting out the spell that would cause red sparks to appear above them. Scorpius was struggling, doing some sort of jittery dance as he tried to work out whether going forwards or getting back was a better option. There was another crack and a huge flare of light as another shop went up in flames, further down the street. A sharp blue spell sped towards the person who’d cast the spell, from an unknown assailant, but the mysterious apparator disappeared again before it hit him.

Albus ran into the crowd and was quickly lost to the other three. Without a word between the two of them Molly and Lien plunged after him. Scorpius felt like screaming. He had no idea what to do, and could only try to stay up as the myriad of panicked people charged in all directions around him.

Like an electric shock, as his bad mood channelled down the wand that never left his hand and put a scorch mark on the pavement, Scorpius finally snapped out of it, beginning to unsteadily shove back at the crowd in what he hoped was the right direction.

Albus was already at the café entrance by the time Lien and Molly broke free of the throng of people. Dean Thomas had a firm hand on his shoulder and was gesturing to his small team of Aurors that had obviously been alerted to the danger as the fire had almost completely gone out. Albus didn’t appear to agree with what he was saying as he was desperately trying to struggle out of the adult’s grip.

Lien tugged him to the side and out of the way of the opening door where a grim-faced Auror carrying a hysterically crying young boy was coming through.

“Where’s Peters?” He asked gruffly of Dean. Dean shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

“Any sign of Harry?” The other Auror shook his head.

“Everyone barring this one seems to have apparated out of there as soon as they saw the fire. I doubt the boss would’ve lingered.”

“True.”

“I don’t understand it. Fire is easily dealt with, especially with so many magical people on hand. A twelve year old could have sorted this.”

“I don’t get it either. Perhaps this was just a demonstration.”

“I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Rosa that.” Dean chuckled.

“Does this little guy need any medical help?”

“Nah he’s unharmed just a little shaken up; I think I need to have a word with whoever was looking after him though.”

“Alright then; you take care of him and meet me back at the office. I’ll set up cleaning crews and start getting witnesses. If you see any sign of Harry-”

“Send a message. I know.” The Auror murmured something to the younger boy who nodded weakly before disapparating with him.

Before Albus could start arguing with Dean again he was slammed into a very worried hug.

“Oh thank Merlin.” Harry Potter gripped his youngest son tightly. Albus looked like he was trying very hard not to cry.

“Dad.” He croaked weakly. When he was finally released from where his head had been buried in his dad’s shoulder he saw Molly was receiving the same treatment from Audrey and Lien was hugging her sides tightly in relief. He looked up to see both Draco and Astoria Malfoy searching frantically through the milling crowd. His heart rate picked up again; where was Scorpius?

He scanned the people anxiously, hoping to see a flash of white-blonde hair and throwing off his dad’s concerned questions. Just as he was about to launch into the crowd himself he saw a very frazzled Scorpius dashing, as elegantly as possible, attempting to look unruffled, to his parents, from entirely the wrong direction. Stood as close as he was Albus could hear Scorpius’ apology and explanation as to how he’d got lost in the crowd. His mother gave him a very undignified hug and his father squeezed his shoulders reassuringly, nodding at Harry before apparating his small family away.


	3. Of How To Get To The Middle of Nowhere and Regrettable Decisions

All in all, Draco had reacted better than Scorpius expected. Draco didn’t blame Harry, or any of Scorpius’ friends for Scorpius getting lost. Sure, he hadn’t had a second of time to himself since he’d got back but he didn’t really want any; he never had.

It had been all over the news of course; ‘Unknown criminals attempt to blow up Head Auror and saviour of the Wizarding World; Harry Potter’, ‘There were thankfully no casualties’, ‘There is no lead as to who these mysterious culprits might be’, ‘It is unknown whether these were the same people who kidnapped The Boy Who Lived’s oldest son; James Potter and prestigious Pureblood family’s tragically orphaned; Jayna Blackwood, in October’ etc. A whole lot of ‘we have no idea’ really so Scorpius was glad of his company; they were at least vaguely interesting.

Besides, the unusual companionship had given him a chance to look a bit closer at his family and had made him realise he’d actually taken his parents at face-value. Not that they were hugely different underneath their highborn exterior, but there were subtleties that Scorpius was only just now picking up on. It was a saddening thought that he didn’t even know his own family.

There had always been tension between Narcissa and Astoria. Scorpius had assumed it was typical mother-in-law disagreement but now Scorpius was beginning to see that Narcissa didn’t like how Astoria had brought him up. While his paternal grandparents had ratted out tens of their Death Eater comrades after the war in order to stay out of prison, they still very much believed in the Pureblood Supremacy. Astoria and Draco were a little more subtle, more fluid. When with families like the Goyles they were every bit the pompous rich beautiful couple that looked down on all who were ‘less’ than them. At home though, they were slightly less stiff. They didn’t call Muggleborns, Mudbloods; they just didn’t speak of them at all. Scorpius searched back through his mind and realised that it was only Lucius who’d ever said to him that Muggles were scum, and Draco had immediately interrupted and said that politics weren’t allowed at the dinner table.

Scorpius wondered if that was why his mother often came home late from work; in order to avoid tension-filled meals. He’d only now began to see the pattern between his grandparents visits (which were frequent but they did primarily live in their cottage) and his mother’s emergency work plans.

His mother’s side of the family were less frequent but slightly more welcome visitors. Daphne Greengrass had gone through the same kind of shock to reality as her sister, and his maternal grandparents had never fully supported _extremist_ Pureblood actions anyway.

He guessed that his parents, and therefore their views, had been changed by their experiences in the war that they both refused to speak of. While Draco spoke to his father with as much respect as he had before the war, it was clear that their views no longer lined up exactly.

Scorpius was very glad, then, that it was just him and his parents who were going to the Quidditch World Cup. He almost smiled when Draco informed him that Vincent Goyle and his father would not be meeting up with them as he was running a fever. Of course there would be no escape from the younger boy when September rolled around as Scorpius thought it was highly unlikely he’d end up in Ravenclaw, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

The three of them were portkeying to Germany where it was being held. Astoria had given her husband a look of utter outrage (though there was hint of teasing behind it) when he jokingly suggested they camped over; instead they were just going to watch the match and they were leaving at midnight, whether the match was finished or not.

Scorpius knew it was unlikely he’d have a chance to speak to Albus, Molly, Sam or James as they’d be surrounded by the press until they got to the game but he did wonder if he might see Jayna or Lydjah, if they were even going, which he doubted. He assumed Lien wasn’t coming as Molly had given no indication she was taking her when they were shopping.

Speaking of Jayna though, that reminded him of another thing he needed to talk to his parents about. He had plenty of time; it was a little bit of stretch to get to where their portkey was taking off and Scorpius had violently protested the idea of side-along apparation; it was horrible enough the first time; he had no wish to repeat the experience.  
“Father?” He asked hesitantly as the exited their huge house, twirling his wand between his fingers.

“Yes Scorpius?” Draco looked at his son.

“Why did you call off my betrothal to Jay?” His father blinked a little and averted his gaze, the only sign that he was surprised.

“Jayna Blackwood?”

“Was there another Jay I was engaged to?” Scorpius asked wryly, hoping he wouldn’t think he was being rude. Draco chuckled slightly.

“No… How did you find out about that?”

“Through the lady herself?” He said, giving him a look that clearly asked where on earth else he thought he’d got it from.

“You’re still friendly with her?”

“Yes.”

“Well at least you’ve got a bit of good influence.” Astoria muttered. Scorpius carefully refrained from rolling his eyes.

“Is there a problem with the rest of my friends mother?”

“I just,” Astoria ignored her husband’s warning glance, “I’m wondering when you’re going to grow out of this phase is all.” Scorpius was rather impressed that his voice stayed as impartial as it did when he replied.

“‘Phase’?”

“I know you like Albus and that other Weasley and… Leah was it? But-”

“It’s Lien.” That was all Scorpius said on the subject, turning his face away from his mother and back to his father. “If Jay’s such a good influence why did you call it off?”

“Your mother and I thought it wouldn’t be… _Appropriate_ for you to marry a girl whose political views are very different to our own.” Scorpius felt like saying ‘ _your_ own’ but didn’t, keeping hold of the cool politeness that always occupied his words. “I didn’t think you’d _want_ to marry her.”

“I don’t. But you cut off probably the only tie, barring her sister, that she had left to _this_ world, just after her entire family had died. It’s no wonder she went to live with the Dawsons.”

“You think her views could be changed back?” Astoria inquired, curious. Scorpius smirked.

“Oh definitely not. She’s been living with them for a year now. They’ve been good to her.”

“Of course they have,” his mother scoffed, “they’ve got her inheritance within their grasp.”

“I don’t think that’s the reason they took her in mother.” Astoria shared an impressed look with Draco over Scorpius’ head at the steel in his tone.

“Maybe, maybe not. It’s a shame either way though; so much wasted potential.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well of course there’s nothing _wrong_ with Muggles. But they can never understand our world properly, never fit in as well as Purebloods can. And Halfbloods are torn completely between the two, so neither are quite as adept at magic.”

“Seriously?” Scorpius said, finally snapping, “after you went to school with Hermione Weasley?”

“Exactly!” Astoria nodded, “I went to school with her. I’m not denying she’s brilliant, for of course she is, but she had, and still has, to work unbelievably hard all the time; I knew that and I wasn’t even in her year.”

“Anyone would have to work hard to get to where she is.”

“Even so; Hermione Weasley is an anomaly.” Scorpius gritted his teeth but left it alone. “I’m glad you brought up betrothals though Scorpius; I’ve been thinking; perhaps Elsa Zabini? Or even Harriet Selwyn-”

“Oh look we’re here!” Scorpius exclaimed loudly. Draco’s snigger was not missed by his wife who swotted him lightly on the arm as they hurried after their son. He picked up the immaculate umbrella and raised his eyebrows. “Inconspicuous object?” Draco smirked back at his son, placing a hand on the black-and-white spotted umbrella at the same time as his wife.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Nope.” Scorpius said cheerfully as the portkey glowed blue and something hooked his navel and sent them spinning across the world.

 

It was with reckless abandon that Lydjah threw on a mismatching outfit, an insouciant smile on her lips, and then raced downstairs, thankfully only slamming her leg on the poorly-placed chair in the corridor once.

The Dawsons’ house was currently a mess of potential hazards. It wasn’t usually the cleanest place on the planet but lately it had been an obstacle course of book stacks, dirty plates and fresh washing. The house was lived in definitely; photographs and postcards from various points in Lydjah’s childhood decorated the fridge; her six-year-old artwork and nine-year-old poems littered the walls, much to her protest. The kitchen was bomb-wreck of haphazardly stacked food and different shapes and sizes of china, the longue an explosion of half-finished board games and at least seven different remotes, the dining-room a massacre of various papers of Alen’s and several bits of parchment that Lydjah and Jayna had forgotten to hide. That was to say nothing of their bedrooms.

Alen and Sophia’s featured parts of several computers and many mismatched pyjama sets all strewn in a strange sort of path through the room. Lydjah’s shelves were as messed up and uncleared as always and there were more crumbs between her sheets then on the dirty crockery. Jayna’s no longer showed any recognisable patch of floor as the many articles of clothing she couldn’t be bothered to hang up hid it completely, not to mention the growing pile of books and the strange smell of her potions extra-credit homework (hidden inside her trunk) which gave the entire room a sense that some creature was hovelled away in there.

The reason for this was that Sophia, being the amazing person that she was usually the one clearing things up after the rest of her slobby family. However, Sophia was not currently at the Dawson household.

They’d come back from Roxanne’s party only to find out that Sophia’s godmother had passed away; that was the call her mum had received just as they were leaving. Sophia had been inconsolable for days. This was not, of course, the cause for Lydjah’s grin because she wasn’t that much of a horrible person. The reason was that in light of Sophia’s recent sadness, Alen had decided now was probably not the best time to be dropping the whole magic bomb on her, and, fearing his daughter’s wrath, hurriedly managed to find tickets for Jayna, Lydjah and himself for the final match of the Quidditch World Cup. They were, of course, quite possibly the worst tickets available and Lydjah was 98% sure they weren’t even getting seats. She didn’t mind though because one; you spend most of the time at Quidditch matches on your feet anyway, and two; they were going to the fucking _Quidditch World Cup_.

They’d been planning on going on a camping trip anyway so all Sophia knew about their plans was that she was no longer going so that she could visit her Godmother’s family. Sophia was taking Dylan though as her Godmother’s daughter, one of Sophia’s closest friends, had always loved him.

Jayna had thought it would be frankly hilarious to prank Lydjah back for the pyjama incident and so hadn’t woken her up in time for Lydjah to get ready. Unfortunately for her, Lydjah had managed to wake up on her own just in time (something she was certain would never happen again) but, for once, was going to let Jayna’s attempt to be funny slide as she was too damn excited to think about much else. The two of them had sat up till late in the evening the night before discussing what it would be like in hushed voices and both of them were rather hyper now. Jayna had even gone as far as to try and help Alen to make their picnic tea (because buying food at the match was not worth the queues and the expense) which had gone rather disastrously as Jayna had never cooked before in her life. Lydjah said sandwiches didn’t even count as cooking and how Jayna had managed to spray tuna all over the walls was a mystery to everyone but her (she’d hidden the whisk she’d tried to use when she’d (belatedly) realised tuna wasn’t supposed to be whisked).

Teaching Jayna how to use more Muggle technology… Well it obviously wasn’t going well. Lydjah managed to crack up every time the toaster popped or the phone rang as Jayna still jumped a foot in the air. She’d just about handled the kitchen appliances (electric whisk excluded) though she still didn’t understand how any of them actually worked but trying to introduce her to the internet was going disastrously. She remained thoroughly unconvinced that Muggles were intelligent enough to create a huge amass of knowledge about literally anything but hadn’t worked out there was an entire magical world hidden right under their noses, and was of the mind that Alen had added to the Dawson’s internet which was why theirs was so good. Jayna _was_ very interested in how Muggles cured disease and disappointed at how little Lydjah knew. She asked Alen when she could, but it wasn’t exactly his line of work and plus she could only ask out of range of Sophia.

Lydjah had finally caught up on all the many seasons of shows she’d missed while she was away and found Jayna’s confused chatter amusing as she tried to work out how the characters in _Merlin_ had managed to do wandless, non-verbal magic and why their eyes always glowed when they did. She was continually protesting over the incantations when they were used, stating that they made no sense, and how she highly doubted the _real_ Merlin was as good looking as Colin Morgan, or in love with King Arthur.

Both Ravenclaws had cried buckets in the final episode and Jayna had expressed outrage that the extremely clear love between the King and his servant was never properly expressed. For the next few days whenever anyone thanked her she would glare ferociously at them and go into a very confusing rant about how some people say ‘thank you’ when really they mean ‘I love you’ (well confusing for all those who hadn’t watched _Merlin_ ).

The only way she’d managed to get her friend out of her dramatics was to talk about Quidditch. Lydjah wasn’t entirely sure who she should be supporting in the World Cup; Germany or Spain. Jayna had given her a weird look when she’d voiced this and said Spain, obviously, because they both spoke a little Spanish from their lessons with Professor Casales and in her opinion German sounded horrible (Lydjah wasn’t entirely sure what this had to do with which Quidditch team she should support but agreed nonetheless). She had a feeling Germany were going to win; there’s nothing like playing on your home ground (or so she’d been told) but it was definitely going to be an interesting match. She’d been unable to find out any of the odds or statistics from the previous matches from the Daily Prophet or the Quibbler; her dad had said that the less Wizarding post they got the better, and she thought asking Albus, James or Sam would no doubt end in a letter too heavy for her poor owl to carry.

As Sophia had already left there was no need to pretend to take the car, as long as they came back before she did. Alen did a quick concealing charm just in case, but charms had never been his forte and the car just ended up looking vaguely paler. Jayna stared at what she viewed as an overweight, loud metal death-trap with distaste; her few journeys in it to go to the cinema and the like had not gone well and had left Sophia profoundly confused when Jayna admitted she’d never been in a car before. Lydjah noted this expression with a grin; the first thing she’d looked up when she’d showed Jayna the internet was the average number of deaths from car crashes per year. Needless to say, it had made Jayna go a little green.

Alen had only fortified his house the Muggle way and so there were no spells preventing apparation or portkeying. He checked his watch a final time and, noting the time, held his hands out to his daughter and her friend, turned on the spot, and vanished.

The leaves stirred slightly in the yard as the three remaining inhabitants of the house disappeared, catching round the wheels of the partly-invisible car and the shoes of the tall man cloaked in dark robes who was staring at the house with the strangest expression on his face.

 

Lien had been stood out in the garden for twenty minutes now, knowing fully well Lydjah and Jayna weren’t supposed to arrive for another five minutes, bouncing excitedly and rechecking everything she had with her about fifteen times a minute.

She had a small purse of money (she’d spent most of her pocket-money on the ticket and had no qualms about letting Jayna pay the rest as she was fairly certain Jayna could spend 100 galleons every day and not have to worry until she was old and grey (yay that rhymed), but she was hoping she could buy at least one souvenir), a waterproof, a set consisting of an obnoxiously orange woolly hat and matching gloves, a ‘simple German phrases’ book, a packed tea and a small but firm box that Jayna had requested she bring. Lien didn’t quite know why Jayna wanted the box but had given up trying to figure out what exactly went on in that girl's head. Honestly sometimes it was like the Ravenclaw wasn’t all there. Her sister had protested at the hat and gloves, asking why she needed them if it was already hot but Lien had a feeling the match would last long into the night and who knows what German weather was like?

There was a slight crack from behind her and she whizzed around, almost tripping over her own feet in excitement, glad that the tall hedges that framed her garden made it the perfect spot for apparation, to see Jayna and Lydjah looking slightly pale clutching a hand of Alen’s each. Within a moment the colour had returned to their faces and they were both stepping forward to give Lien a hug.

“You’re ok? We read about the incident in the paper and I know it _said_ no-one was hurt but that paper also said Voldemort wasn’t back a few years ago so-”

“Jayna we’re all fine, calm down.” Lien laughed. Jayna coloured slightly but she was smiling.

“Are you ready to go Lien?” Alen cut in, smiling politely. Lydjah sent him a look that told him not to crack one of his jokes right now.

“You got that box?” Jayna asked. Lien passed it over. “Perfect.” Jayna nodded with a grin, slipping it into her pocket.

“Yeah I’m ready to go.” Lien said slowly, trying to shake out of her confusion over Jayna.

“Alright then.” Alen took a crisp packet out of his pocket. “Do you know how portkeys work Lien?”

“Yeah Molly explained it to me. Molly Weasley that is; her dad’s-”

“The head of the department of Magical Transportation.”

“Yeah. I kind of forgot for a moment there that they’re famous.”

“Oh Percy not so much. I just see him occasionally in my job. Alright then; put your hands on the packet everyone.” There was a slight crinkle as they all placed their hands on the crisp packet and Lien waved enthusiastically to her sister who was watching out of the window before apparently vanishing into thin air. Pearl had seen it before when Professor Vector had apparated from their living-room but it was still unnerving.

Lien fell awkwardly on her arse as she let go of the portkey. Jayna managed to stay on her feet for a second before Lydjah crashed into her ankles and sent them both sprawling. Even Alen was a little unsteady and they all took a moment to just sit down and gather themselves. As soon as Lydjah had untangled her legs from Jayna’s the younger Ravenclaw was stood up brandishing her wand with delight casting little green bubbles from her wand and giggling. Lien watched this with a little shock; Jayna was definitely not the haughty ponce she’d met at the train station a year ago but Lien still didn’t expect her to be frolicking and laughing happily at bubbles like a three year old.

“I haven’t been able to use magic _all_ summer!”

“Except at Roxanne’s party. Or the various times we’ve been to Diagon Alley.” Lydjah said wryly. Feeling mature, Jayna stuck her tongue out at her, or at least as far as Jayna’s tongue would go. It was only then that Lien looked past the grass she was sitting in, following the breeze to where it shimmered slightly and then caught one of many flags sticking up out of tents. The tents themselves were amazing; some were palaces of silk, others four stories high and still others had exotic animals roped to the front. People were everywhere; some in Muggle clothing, some in Wizarding robes, shouting to each other, dancing and drinking. The whole atmosphere was filled with friendly jabs to the supporters of the opposing team. Black, crimson and gold screamed for her attention while scarlet and dark yellow paraded past in all directions. Magical fireworks were going up all over the place; spelling out ‘Spain sucks!’ and ‘Germany can-’ well Lien didn’t really want to read what Germany could do but it was obvious to see tensions were high.

Alen was depositing their portkey in a box guarded by a grumpy looking wizard who was glaring rather fiercely at Jayna.

“No magic allowed outside the Muggle repelling barriers miss-” Jayna turned to the wizard with a mock-frown, about to put her wand away as he’d asked, “Oh Miss Blackwood I- I worked with your father Miss, fine man, fine man, such a tragedy, can I _possibly_ help you with anything?” He bowed slightly. Jayna’s frown became real as she pocketed her wand, but she immediately straightened out her expression on seeing the older man’s slightly scared face, trying to look as friendly as possible.

“Thank you. Directions would be wonderful sir.” The wizard, obviously flustered, stuttered and nodded.

“Yes, yes erm if you go down that path in front of us and take the first right- no left then right then another right you should find yourself at the shopping field. I’m sorry you have to go through that field to get to the stadium-”

“Perfect; I can’t wait to buy a Spanish scarf.” Jayna smiled. “Are you supporting a team?”

“No, no I-” Just then another group of people arrived. With another awkward bow of his head the grumpy wizard scurried away. Jayna sighed, looking at her hands as if they were the root of her problems. Lydjah grabbed one of them and Jayna looked up startled.

“Come on idiot my legs are still numb from you squashing it with your gigantic arse.” Jayna swatted at her and held out her other hand for Lien. Lien took it hesitantly, wondering what she was going to do. Immediately Jayna began bounding down the path and dragging them with her in some kind of half-skip half-run leaving a protesting Alen jogging behind them.

They followed the wizard’s instructions, right up until the last turn. Bright lights were coming from the other direction and a cacophony of shouting. All three girls immediately stopped. Jayna and Lydjah drew their wands, ignoring Lien’s whispered reminder of the no-magic-allowed rule and the three of them headed down the path, though not until Lydjah had made an arrow out of sticks for her father.

 

Sam was rather regretting not taking Jayna’s offer of going with her and Lien. She supposed it probably came down to knowing she could just about stomach James paying for her ticket but letting Jayna would have made her feel like a leech. She knew Harry was famous, like seriously famous. But it was twenty years ago now! Honestly, some of the Quidditch players were just walking without any sort of bombardment in full view across the fields to their places in the changing rooms because every camera was focused on the Potter tent.

Ginny was perhaps the only member of the press actually interviewing the players but she had a small band of reporters trailing her too, from various other magazines.

She hadn’t seen Molly or her sister as they’d both been dragged off to help Percy keep the portkeys under control, or at least that’s what Al had said. Audrey, she knew, was one of the Aurors on patrol though Sam had a sneaky suspicion that she’d deliberately volunteered to get out of dismantling portkeys.

Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Louis, Dominque, Charlie, George, Angelina, Roxanne and Fred were mostly escaping the brunt of the press, especially Fleur, Victoire, Angelina and Roxanne as their hair colour didn’t immediately mark them out as a member of the Weasley family. They’d managed to go to the shopping field and get back without being trampled though George was now being thoroughly told off by his wife (with a silencing charm around them so the press couldn’t hear of course) for the bright red lipstick smeared on his cheek, though she seemed to be more amused than angry.

Ron and Hermione had spent most of the day holed up in the tent; playing a singular game of monopoly that Sam had joined in with before she’d been unfairly ganged up upon and made bankrupt (Sam didn’t think Rose appreciated her new rainbow dye shampoo. She thought she’d appreciate it even less if Sam told her she only had to wash her hair with normal shampoo for it to disappear). Hugo had spent the day discussing Quidditch with Lily. Sam didn’t have the heart to tell them they had no idea what they were talking about.

The game of monopoly was still going with Hermione currently winning, as expected, with Rose in second, Albus third and Ron just about hanging in there so Sam decided to brave outside again.

She squinted her eyes as she stalked out of the tent, focusing on the two messy mounds of dark hair just in front of the bright camera flashes that were threatening to blind her. Harry had agreed to answer an hour’s worth of questions that he deemed appropriate at his wife’s suggestion; insisting that they go away afterward. This was about three quarters of an hour ago. Initially Sam had gone out with James and Harry but the not-so-subtle questions about her relationship with James had caused her to have what James affectionately called the ‘someone is going to have their face kicked in’ look and Harry had kindly said that he needed someone to track Ginny down and find out if she was sitting in the VIP box with them or in the press box. The walk around the campsite had calmed her down and besides she needed to give Harry his answer.

Steeling herself she got right up to the fence behind which screaming fans and reporters were yelling and managed to convey to Harry that his wife would unfortunately not be sitting with them before turning to face James with a slight scowl on her face. As always, James was loving the attention. Sam knew what she saw in him as a friend; he was brave, loyal, funny, adventurous, quick with his wand, not afraid to talk to her when she was in a temper, never hypocritical, determined and protective of the weak; something he never viewed Sam as. But Sam could not understand what all the other girls saw in him. Can’t they see they’ll never be able to compete with his reflection? He has it all; what could _you_ possibly offer him?

Jayna was possibly the only one who’d seen all this and still liked the idiot, though whether that was over or not Sam didn’t know, or in all honesty, particularly care because Sam knew the truth. April hadn’t or Josie or Sally or Laura or Riley (thank god) or Rephia or Irene (though she’d come close which was why he’d broken it off). Girls were either intelligent enough to stay away from him, not interested in a long-term relationship or stupid enough to fall for him. Sam knew James would never let anyone get close enough to him that he’d begin to doubt his reflection, never go out with someone who’d make him feel like he needed to dress-up or make him nervous about a date. And while that sounded shallow on the surface, which it was, Sam knew it was this deep-rooted fear of willingly leaving yourself vulnerable that James, alike many others, possessed.

What Sam didn’t know was that it would take someone who had the same vulnerabilities, an entire year’s worth of awkwardly dancing round each other and the death of this person for James to realise that he didn’t actually have much of a choice when it came to who he gave his heart to.

Of course, currently, almost all members of the eight-person team still possessed the entirety of their hearts. Molly’s heart would always be her own. There would never be rips or tears and that was perfectly ok. While James was scared of losing his heart Molly had simply decided she liked hers in her own chest. Lien’s heart was large enough to knock down a giant and as of yet still wholly her own. Albus’ heart was much the same though his was rather lost which is why it took him awhile to be aware of his own feelings. Sam had lost a good chunk of hers to Lee, but had gained back the equal amount from the Ravenclaw. James was still guarding his with a reflective mirror and Lydjah currently held tens of tiny fragments of other people’s hearts no matter how much she tried to be rid of them though had yet to lose any of her own. Jayna’s head said that she had only lost a tiny piece, her feelings said the whole thing was gone, but really the only truth was that hers was still broken in half from the loss of her family because even though she’d cello-taped it back together she knew it could never heal until she sewed it into a new shape and she wasn’t ready to let them go yet. Scorpius’ was half-cloaked in shadow under lock and key with armed guards defending it day and night. The only person who could steal Scorpius’ heart was someone who hadn’t meant to, and therefore hadn’t been detected.

“James?” James turned and caught sight of Sam, giving her their usual high-five. “You done admiring yourself yet?” James rolled his eyes with a good-natured smirk plastered to his face.

“You don’t find the fans interesting?”

“Your _father_ ’s fans?” Sam pointed out. “No.” James frowned at her.

“Lover’s spat?” A smarmy voice inquired from behind the barrier.

“We’re not going out. He’s my best friend, not my ‘lover’, as I believe I explained earlier.” Sam said, as cordially as she could.

“And your name dear?”

“Sam Andrews.”

“Muggle-born?”

“Does it matter?”

“You go to Hogwarts I presume? A Gryffindor?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you been friends with James?”

“Since first year when I broke his nose.”

“Broke his nose you say? That sounds like an interesting story.”

“It is, and one I’m not telling. You coming James?” James perked up as the attention moved back to him.

“Where?”

“Shopping of course; idiot.” James only had time to nod, pouting a little at leaving the eager reporters, before several very familiar voices were calling out across the crowd. Both Gryffindors searched the throng of people but it wasn’t until Lien made her way to the very front (small bony elbows came in handy sometimes) of the barrier (she was only just taller than it) that they finally saw her and the rest of her group.

“We saw the camera flashes and heard the shouts and thought there was some kind of duel going on so made our way over.” Lydjah was shouting, over the sound of the press and the screaming fans.

“Come this way.” Sam yelled back, pointing away from the press. At first a few followed them but quickly made their way back to Harry. James pout grew more pronounced. Once they were out of earshot James gave Lien a hug, asking the same ‘are you alright’ question she’d heard too many times since the incident in Diagon Alley.

Unfortunately before they could do much more than exchange pleasantries Harry finished his promised press time and informed Sam and James that they had to start making their way to the stadium in order to get to the VIP box. Sam was assured that there were still opportunities to grab some German-supporting face-paint and several figurines of the Quidditch players as well as the binoculars James claimed could rewind and slow down the action as it was happening, but if they went into the shopping field they’d get mobbed. Alen finally turned up then and started shaking Lydjah for being so stupid before he realised the saviour of the Wizarding world was stood three metres in front of him. The two groups dispersed and when Sam saw the tall man in the dark robes and the strange expression she thought nothing of it, dismissing the strange shiver that ran down her back as nothing more than anticipation for the game.


	4. Of Reactions to Quidditch Matches and Once-In-A-Lifetime Experiences (Unless, of Course, You're Rich)

Lucy had always been quiet. It wasn’t the normal sort of quiet, where one is just shy or afraid of loud noises. The closest she could compare it to was Luna Scamander’s quiet sort of dreaminess, but even she was capable of shouting if needs be. Lucy didn’t speak very often, didn’t engage. Molly had learnt how to read her sister without words but it had taken a long while.

Audrey was pretty good at it and Percy could even draw out a smile if he tried but Molly was the only one who heard Lucy’s voice, when she, very rarely, chose to speak. When she did speak it was usually only a single word, and one that made no sense to anyone except her but Molly treasured every one of them. Everyone in their family knew she was a bit different, and even James had learnt not to tease her for it, but no-one understood her. Not that Lucy would care if they did tease for it because she wasn’t tuned in enough to realise that’s what they were doing. She spoke through touch mostly; tapping her father’s elbow when she was hungry, patting Molly’s hair when her older sister was upset, holding her mother’s hand whenever she was close enough.

Lucy had a different way of looking at things, sideways and backwards and flipped over to how everyone else did. Molly thought it was refreshing. She hoped when the younger girl was preparing to go to Hogwarts this time next year, others would see it too. Especially as Molly would be busy trying not to die every time they completed one of those task things.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the girl herself. Lucy had tripped over but was refusing her father’s help to get up as Percy tried desperately to be a good father while shouting angrily at a man who was attempting to shoot fireworks out of his wand in full view of the Muggle cottage next-door. Molly pushed her dad lightly in the direction of the offender and waited patiently for Lucy to get up by herself.

“You ok to carry on collecting used portkeys?” Lucy’s response was to take the box that was full of the strangest collection of objects from a rubber duck to an alarm clock, gently out of Molly’s hands and place it on the floor before ambling the few paces to pick up an old trainer. Molly smiled.

Percy put his arm round her shoulders when she reached him, having sent off the fireworks man with a severe reprimand and made sure the Muggle’s curtains were still firmly closed. “Thanks Princess.” Molly leaned her head on his shoulder. She had a bit of a rocky relationship with her dad; they didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things; she thought he was boring and he thought she was reckless (Molly didn’t want to know what he thought of James), but whatever else her dad was, he was hard-working, and that included towards his family too. He always _tried_ to make everything the best it could be, even if try was the operative word, and Molly did love him for it. “Wish your mum was here; she’s much scarier than me.” Molly laughed in agreement.

Percy had met Audrey through work, and that’s usually all he said on the topic. Audrey however, loved to tell the tale; how she’d got awfully lost when trying to report for Auror training and had wandered into his department just in time to hear Percy swearing like a sailor after accidentally stapling himself while trying to clip some documents together. She’d grabbed him a coffee (for no other reason than he looked like he needed one), he’d shown her the way to the Auror department and it had taken him three weeks and a rather painful meeting of his face to the floor after tripping over his desk-chair for him to realise the coffee cup he’d thrown in the bin by his desk had her number on it.

Lucy grabbed Percy’s hand and pointed shyly at the full box of used portkeys. “Is that all of them?” He asked, looking ecstatic. She patted his hand once. Percy took this to be affirmative. He kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.” Lucy didn’t respond, as was usual. “Alright; we’re done here then. Better get going if we want to go shopping.” With a smile he pulled out two galleons and handed one to each girl.

“Thank you!” Molly squealed, wrapping her arms round his waist and then grabbing Lucy’s free hand. Percy chuckled and followed after his two daughters, only a slight flash of worry showing on his face as he regarded Lucy’s apathetic expression.

 

Jayna supposed that every time she did something that she’d done before with her family she would get this strange ache in her chest. She was carrying the image of Aleron cramming his Omnioculars to his eyes in her heart, gripping Dev’s tiny hand in her own, feeling her father’s warm arm around her shoulders and her mother’s uncustomary giggles ringing in her ears as if they were right there next to her. Now, however, she was able to make new memories on top of them without trying to drown them out.

She did not want to think about her family right then, and so she thought about her friends instead. Lien’s eyes couldn’t get any wider. The poor girl was whipping her head backwards and forwards desperately trying to see everything in the shopping field. Jayna liked to think she’d grown up a bit since she first met Lien; she now found the Muggleborn’s wild-eyed excitement endearing instead of a mark of her ignorance.

Not that Lydjah was any better. Lydjah had no interest in the sport itself but the sheer atmosphere of the Quidditch World Cup was amazing-

Jayna’s thoughts were quite rudely interrupted as a ginger headed youth emerged from the crowd and smashed his lips against Lydjah’s. Lien and Jayna stood, staring in stunned disbelief at the couple. Alen’s polite cough caused Lydjah to remember who she was with and she quickly moved back a pace, going paler in her embarrassment instead of blushing like most people.

“Erm Fred this is my dad and my friends Lien Irby and Jayna Blackwood.” Fred ran a hand through his shaggy mop of hair and grinned. Jayna was quite impressed by this grin; if she’d come along and snogged say, James, and then realised Harry was standing right behind him she’d be mortified. “Guys; Fred Weasley.”

“I remember; I saw you guys at Roxanne’s party.” Fred said to Jayna and Lien. “Great to meet you…?”

“Alen.”

“Indeed.” He smiled again before turning back to Lydjah. “Sorry I could only get away for a moment; we have to get to our seats. See you Saturday?”

“Yeah.” Fred kissed her quickly and then dived back into the crowd. Jayna allowed her one moment of happy befuddlement before whacking her on the arm. “Ow!”

“ _That_ was for lying to me! ‘I’m going to visit an old Muggle friend’ my arse! That’s who you’ve been going to see every week?!” Lydjah managed a sheepish look. Alen raised his eyebrows at his daughter and she averted her gaze.

“Lydjah-”

“Don’t want to have this conversation with you right now Alen.” Lydjah interrupted, with a pleading expression on her face. Alen narrowed his eyes at being called by his first name but relented. Lydjah hoped he would forget by the time they got home. Jayna decided that helping her friend now would probably put her in a better mood for talking about Fred later, so immediately suggested that Alen go to buy them some drinks and meet them at the end gate of the shopping field while they did some ‘long and very girly’ shopping. Alen agreed, not looking the slightest bit fooled but wanting to get a pint of Dragon Scale for himself.

Jayna immediately rushed over to the nearest sales wizard who was carrying a tray full of omnioculars. “Fifteen galleons! Bargain price! Fifteen galleons!”

“We are not in an economic crisis anymore mate. Fifteen galleons is ridiculous.” Lydjah and Lien exchanged shocked looks at Jayna’s less-than-scarily-polite attitude. The sales wizard, a middle-aged man with a kind-enough smile and slightly greying blonde hair, seemed shocked as well before he looked up and registered Jayna’s face.

“Miss Jayna Blackwood! I haven’t seen ya in yonks!”

“A year is hardly ‘yonks’ Patrick. And this is the last place I would have looked for you. I thought you hated Quidditch!” Patrick pulled a face, his dusty-blue eyes watering slightly though Lydjah got the impression it was more to do with faulty tear ducts than any sort of emotion.

“That’s true enough lass but a man’s gotta find work where he can.”

“Gardening to selling omnioculars is a bit of a difference though.” Jayna pointed out. Patrick shrugged. “How’s Mrs Bagby? And the kids?”

“Tamsin’s as good as ever. Misses baking you and your siblings pies awfully. And our Lizzie’s starting Hogwarts in September.” Mr Bagby said proudly. Jayna gasped.

“No! She’s grown up so fast!”

“So have you.” Patrick sighed, looking sadly at her. Jayna glanced away uncomfortably, trying to stop the tears that were pricking her eyelids. “I’m very sorry about your family Miss Jayna.”

“I’m sorry you lost your job.” She returned. “Did you get your last set of wages?”

“Nah, but it don’t matter now.” Jayna frowned.

“After all that work you put into our gardens Patrick, please let me pay you-”

“No.” Jayna sighed.

“Fine. At least let me buy three sets of these omnioculars, at your ridiculous price.” Patrick tried to shake his head but Jayna had already taken the money out of her pocket and snatched three pairs in return. She passed one to each of her friends. “I’ve got to go now but you’re always welcome to owl me if you need anything yeah?” Mr Bagby nodded, looking a little teary himself and apparated away to a different part of the field before he could lose his composure. Lydjah tried to pay Jayna back but she shrugged it off, saying Lydjah could buy the next thing. Lydjah thought this was because Jayna knew they weren’t going to be buying anything that was more expensive than fifteen galleons, but she agreed anyway.

Jayna looked apologetically at her friends. “Sorry guys; that was my family’s gardener Patrick Bagby. I had to say hello.”

“That’s alright.” Lien smiled.

“I’d completely forgotten about the household staff; I hope they’re all ok.”

“How many ‘household staff’ did you have?!” Asked Lydjah incredulously.

“Well my grandpa didn’t like house-elves, less to do with the moral behind it and more because he was distrustful and paranoid about them for some reason, so we had a couple of cooks; Zoe Accrington and Malcolm Baddock, a gardener; Patrick Bagby, three maids; Tracey Davis and Flora and Hestia Carrow; their family name really went down in power after the end of the war though I don’t see how it was their fault; they were perfectly alright to me, and a butler; Curtis Evercreech.”

“Oh so not much then.”

“My mum didn’t want nannies for us. I mean, she didn’t have to work but she did but she still thought we should be brought up by our family instead of someone different.”

“Your mum worked?”

“Yeah she was on the Wizengamot.”

“No way!”

“What’s the ‘Wizengamot’?” Lien asked sheepishly.

“It’s the wizarding high court of law… Basically.”

“Oh.”

“Most of the rest of my family didn’t though. My grandparents and my father didn’t though my grandpa I think did voluntary research for the Ministry from time to time. My Uncle Anton was an architect; he helped redesign the street of Diagon Alley after it got destroyed in the war. And my Auntie Jozlyn owned the Leaky Cauldron after Madam Longbottom went to become the matron. Everyone else just lived off their old money.” Lydjah just shook her head, marvelling at the difference of their childhoods.

“When did your family move to England then?” Lien asked, assuming, correctly, that they had to have lived for at least a little while for Jayna’s mother to have been allowed into the high court for the whole of British wizards.

“Must have been a couple of years after the war; the year my parents got married… Two years before Cara so… Seventeen years ago?” Lien nodded.

“Ooh what do they do?” Lien asked, pointing to another sales person’s wares. Violet and yellow rosettes clashed horribly in a tray hung round the sales witch’s neck. On the violet rosettes there was a picture of an Erkling (Lien would later be informed they were native to the Black Forest of Germany) and on the yellow was, to her horror, a very familiar creature.

“Is that-”

“That horrible creature that almost killed Potter a few months ago?”

“Quintaped.” Lydjah confirmed, wrinkling her nose. Jayna’s support for the Spanish Quidditch team weakened slightly. All the rosettes were shouting but Lien couldn’t make sense of the words.

“Why is Germany violet?” Lydjah asked, confused. Jayna shrugged.

“That’s the colour of their player’s robes. I think they’re shouting the different players’ names.”

“Jägers; Adelheid Zilberschlag, Gebbert Tschida und Karsten Voss, Treibers; Carola Xylander und Eleonora Xylander, Hüter; Ignatz Rothbauer und Sucher; Malte Protz!” The violet rosette screamed in agreement.

“What?” Lien asked, as they stood in the queue for the rosettes.

“It must have been Chasers first because there are three of them, then Beaters because there are two of those, then Keeper? Because the last one sounded like Seeker.”

“Right.”

“Xylander? Isn’t that a relation of Owen’s?” Jayna asked.

“Who’s Owen?” Lydjah responded.

“Owen Xylander, Gryffindor in our year. His twin older brothers are the Beaters for Hufflepuff.”

“Oh _that_ Owen. I thought he was Dutch, not German.”

“They’re very close countries.”

“True. You should ask James.”

“Potter? Huh yeah.”

“¡Cazadores; Octavia Núñez, Quim Loyola y Salud Juárez, Golpeadores; Udane Huerta y Wilfredo Franco, Guardián; Yadira Cuevas y Buscador; Bakar Azarola!” The yellow rosette roared back.

“I understood that!” Jayna and Lydjah shouted excitedly at the same time, and then the three of them broke down into giggles. So much so, that, by the time they got to the front of the queue, they were still in hysterics, and their order took a lot longer than necessary. True to her word, Lydjah bought all three of their one Galleon (ein Galleonen) rosettes, though it had taken a while as none of them spoke a lick of German past ‘hallo’. Jayna and Lydjah were both wearing yellow, whereas Lien had controversially gone with violet. Lydjah was planning on evening it up by buying a German scarf, but she thought the Spanish rosette sounded and looked nicer.

None of them bought a flag when they reached that store as the horrible cacophony of national anthems that played whenever the flag caught the slightest breeze was awful, though all three bought scarfs. Jayna ignored Lydjah’s ribbing that she’d only bought the Spanish scarf because it was in Gryffindor colours; yellow with red outlining it, but Lydjah wouldn’t let it go, no matter how many times Jayna haughtily explained Gryffindor’s colours were more gold and scarlet.

Jayna was quite enamoured with the Spanish Chaser Quim Loyola and bought a figurine of him that walked around on her palm and scowled prettily at everything it saw. Lien said he looked permanently grumpy but Jayna thought it was more dark and brooding. Either way they all agreed his eyebrow game was on point. Lydjah bought both Carola and Eleonora Xylander as she couldn’t decide which one of the twins to get.

Before they could get out of his sight again Alen located them at the edge of the field and insisted that they get going though Lydjah personally thought he was trying to hide something in the shopping bag that was poking out of his magically large pockets.

 

Albus loved his family to pieces.

Sam’s family was small, and Sam never mentioned her dad. Albus didn’t know if he was dead, or had left them, or Sam just didn’t like him but something had happened there. She seemed close to her sister though, and Albus knew she was coming up to Hogwarts this year.

Lydjah’s family was pretty close from what he had gathered, especially with her being the only child, but there was the whole issue of her mother not knowing what her daughter and her husband were, plus the whole new dynamic adopting Jayna had thrown in.

Jayna’s family seemed pretty sketchy before, and now they were all dead except for that I-can’t-make-up-my-mind sister of hers.

Lien’s had the same problem as Lydjah’s in the sense that although they were aware that Lien was a witch, they could never understand it properly, and Lien would always be pulled between two worlds.

Scorpius’ family was on the sketchy side of things too. Scorpius seemed fine with Lien and Albus had never heard him say anything that was racially motivated to anyone, but there was a definite private side to Scorpius and Albus hadn’t been entirely honest when he said what he’d seen in Scorpius’ sketchbook. There was a drawing of their homework group though the table and the library around it looked normal each of the people sat at the table were… Strange to say the least. Scorpius had drawn it from the perspective of where he usually sat, staring at everyone else. Roxanne was cut in half in her chair, straight down the middle so that blood was spurting out and drowning the rest of the chair in hot red liquid. Molly had her throat slit, and was staring out into nothing, somehow remaining upright in her chair. Lien was covered head to toe in a thick mud like substance but underneath she was glowing bright white. Scorpius had drawn Albus reading a book, and the angle was such that you could see both half of Albus’ face and the pages of the book. Albus’ face looked perfectly normal but the book pages were a mirror, and in their reflection Albus had no head, and his neck was bleeding freely over his beheaded corpse. And then there was Rose. Her red hair had turned into fountains of blood and her limps were flung across the arms of the chair, as if she was being crucified. She was raised above the seat slightly, her bloodied face turned up towards the sky, but her eyes were closed. At the bottom of the page, in perfect calligraphy, the picture was named ‘ _Three Bloods_ ’. The image was so haunting that it refused to leave Albus’ head. And if that was what _Scorpius_ was doing… Albus didn’t even want to think about the rest of his family.

He didn’t think his family was _better_ in some way, but he was oh so very, very glad that he had his family and not anyone else’s. He loved all his cousins and aunties and uncles and siblings and of course his parents. Sure; he didn’t get on so well with James most of the time but that was over petty things, and if he found Louis’ air of superiority annoying so what? Albus knew he could count on his family; always.

Bill was chatting with Percy, who’d arrived to the VIP box a few minutes ago, most probably about the last few people to arrive via portkey that Percy had to sort out. The British Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was chatting quite happily to his dad, and Albus had to keep reminding himself that they were friends. It had only been in recent years that Albus realised having the Minister for Magic round for tea every month wasn’t usual and since coming to Hogwarts he’d tried very hard not to drop names. He’d read the article Rita Skeeter had done when they’d come to the last Quidditch World Cup and had found it more amusing than insulting, especially the part where his mum had hexed her. He wished his mum was with them here but Albus knew she loved reporting the Quidditch World Cup almost as much as she loved playing the sport. Albus was hoping next summer that he and James could invite their little group of friends back to his for another adult vs kids match; they were even again as the adults had won the last one by a mile.

On his right Hermione was attempting to talk to Angelina but the seasoned Quidditch player was too intent on the pitch to respond in much more than monosyllables. As ever, Hermione was refusing to support either team, and Albus noted with a bemused smile that she already had her wand out; just in case. Ron, Louis, Dominque and George were all talking in hushed voices as they listened to the rundown of how Germany and Spain had made it to the final; well Ron, Louis and Dominque were listening to George’s translation of the German as he was the only one who spoke it. Albus had a feeling George was making most of it up as Ron looked rather confused at his brother’s retelling.

Fleur was chatting with Victoire, both looking a little tearful. After the match Victoire was going off with Teddy, and not coming back till Christmas. Teddy, fearing Bill would try (again) to convince (threaten) him into staying, had decided to skip out of the Quidditch World Cup and visit his grandmother before he left instead. As the Quidditch World Cup had been pushed back so far Neville and Hannah Longbottom had decided it would be best for them not to go in order to set up at school properly, and Luna and Rolf were currently back-packing around the alps; Albus had quite lost track of which magical creature they were tracking down. Unfortunately for the newspapers, this meant the 2018 Quidditch World Cup would not include a ‘Dumbledore’s Army Reunion’ like the last one. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were there however as they were being looked after by some of their Godparents; Harry, Ron and Hermione for Lorcan and Ginny for Lysander. They'd already been pulled into James' game of Truce but had escaped injury by offering truce straight after they'd poured James' blackcurrant-squash-filled bottle over his head.

The Spanish Minister for Magic was chatting amicably to the German one though Albus thought he could hear slightly offensive ‘accidental’ translations of his Spanish into German. The current Queen of Spain; Leonor, was also there as she was a Muggleborn witch. It was very rare she got a chance to go to an all magic event and the Muggle newspapers were disappointed when they couldn't find photographs of Queen Leonor's latest holiday. She was entertaining the Scamander twins whom Albus didn't think quite grasped that she was royalty, though if they had he doubted they'd treat her any differently, by producing little red, yellow and black fire sprites that danced round their hands from her wand. The fire didn't seem to be painful to touch.

As for Albus, he was sat with Rose, listening to her talk about how excited she was for their second year of school. Albus didn't see it himself; obviously he was excited to go back to Hogwarts but second year seemed much the same as first, but with harder homework. James had been gloating about all the new subjects he was taking all summer, and Albus was very disappointed to find out they only studied magical theory for the first year unless you took it as an option. Of course, his favourite subject was still Charms, but Magical Theory had been a close second.

Rose was cut off as James let out an almighty shriek, causing Sam next to him to fall into hysterics. "IT'S STARTING!" Immediately everyone's attention (barring Lorcan who was quite content with his fire sprites) turned to the pitch. The game was on.

 

James spent most of the first few minutes of the match alternating between embarrassment over his overly loud shout and terror that they were going to bring out a huge group of Quintapeds at any moment. Fortunately, as the Quintapeds were now more legend than fact (though the slight fracture of his tailbone that occasionally still twinged was inclined to disagree) the real thing had been replaced with illusions. He was unprepared for the German Erklings after his unfounded terror over the not-very-realistic Quintapeds (they didn't even seem mildly aggressive) and so when they started cackling in that horrible entrancing way he had to be grabbed by the scruff of his neck so he didn't try to wander over the side of the box. Harry explained that they were only entrancing to children, but James didn't see the problem till he mentioned that they liked to eat human flesh. It was only after one of them shot a dart (thankfully missing Spanish Chaser Salud Juárez, though to be fair she had been taunting it by flying lazy circles above its head) that they were hauled off again. The match started with some confusion but it was on both sides, so there were no disadvantages.

James jammed his omnioculars to his eyes, knowing Sam was doing the same next to him. Within three minutes it was clear that the German Beaters; the Xylander twins (James was fully planning on killing Owen when he got back to school for not mentioning this), were going to thrash their counter-parts. Quim Loyola had barely touched the Quaffle when a Bludger slammed into his stomach. One of the Xylanders (they were identical; James had no idea which was which) had used a wicked Bludger Backbeat, and Wilfredo Franco was left completely confused as to where the aggressive ball had gone.

With confusion still reigning, Adelheid Zilberschlag and Karsten Voss performed a great rendition of the Porskoff Play befuddling their only real remaining opposition; Yadira Cuevas, and scoring ten points.

Thankfully, by the time the Quaffle got thrown out again the Spanish had worked themselves out, and without using any particular tactics scored the next two goals, though their third attempt was blocked by Ignatz Rothbauer, bringing the score to 10-20.

The next few minutes were fast and furious, but with no goals scored on either side. James found himself wishing that Teddy was here; him breaking Victoire's nose was quite possibly the funniest part of his day in the last Quidditch World Cup.

James had to watch the playback on his omnioculars in order to understand the next few seconds. Octavia Núñez aimed a punch towards Gebbert Tschida. He obviously ducked out of the way, and it seemed that, that had been what Octavia was hoping for. In less than a second she was stood on her broom performing the Dionysus Dive. It was only then that Rothbauer realised that the punch had actually been a Transylvanian Tackle and that Núñez had scored a goal. Unfortunately for Núñez, neither of her other chasers had also realised this, and it was only Seeker; Bakar Azarola's quick-thinking that stopped her from a very messy death after she'd leaped off her broom during the dive.

James leapt to his feet as he heard the confused roaring all around him.

"What's happened?" He yelled at Sam.

"Malte Protz caught the snitch! Germany's won!"

"What?!"

"Azarola was too busy catching Núñez and Protz saw the snitch!" Then James was roaring too, yelling as Sam wrestled him to the floor. Harry pulled them off each other, a grin on all three of their faces, and punched them both lightly in the arm. Up at the front George was singing a very odd song that went something along the lines of "Germany, Germany, I think it's called Deutschland, sucks to the Spanish, Germany rules!" Núñez was crying while her teammates reassured her and the Germans did victory laps around the pitch. When James went to the edge of the box he could see the back of Scorpius' head in the second VIP box, with his sharp-featured father and beautiful mother, and, if he really craned his neck, he thought he spotted Lien stood on an enlarged box, clapping as though Christmas had come early though even with her box James doubted she could see from where she was stood at the back of the crowd.

The man with the strange expression was nowhere to be found.


	5. Of Options and Avoidance

Sam had always lived in a rough area. Normally when she told people this, they scoffed and rose their eyebrows. Sam couldn't exactly change the fact that she looked more French than Jayna (well she supposed she could now with the whole magic thing but she wasn't going to), so she understood why they didn't believe her.

In reality, she lived in a place where no one bothered to get to know their neighbours as one of them would inevitably get stabbed at some point. She didn't just live there because they had no money either; she knew Alex could have just about afforded for them to move somewhere nicer, but Alex's family all lived around here, and with Billy being away most of the time she wanted to stay within walking distance of her remaining family while her girls were at school.

She supposed she ought to have emphasised the likelihood of them getting at least mugged if they came round to her house before she invited them, but it was too late now. The four of them, herself, James, Lydjah and Jayna, were lounging in the sun in her sad excuse for a park, chatting, half-excitedly, about school.

The swings no longer had actual swings in them though Sam had learnt how to backflip using just the chains years ago. The roundabout was graffitied with such vulgar language that most parents never let their children anywhere near it (Alex was not one such parent and had found it secretly hilarious when Sam and Hayden's head-teacher rang to say that language had been used by them that should never have been said by an adult, let alone a five and seven year old) and the small slide was so covered in gunk that no-one had voluntarily gone down it in years (there was quite a fun game that involved picking the stupidest kid and convincing them to walk up the small hill till they were ambushed and thrown down the slide at the top though). Sam liked her park despite all this. This was where she'd first learnt to play football with the older boys, learnt how to fight (by learning how to dodge first, before learning how to punch back), had her first kiss stolen (that guy got kneed where it hurt), stole someone else's (that guy got kneed there too, but that was because of something else), broke her first bone (her thumb from a badly thrown punch) and where she'd first earnt respect.

She understood why Lydjah and Jayna had given it slightly weird looks when they first sat down; it wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing. James had given the place an once-over and then looked at her, saw her looking slightly anxious at his perusal, grinned and said he loved it. She thought he meant it to.

"What's everyone taken for their options then?" Sam threw in lazily.

"Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures." James answered. Jayna wrinkled her nose at the latter.

"What?" He asked.

"Animals." She said with a disgusted expression. James burst out laughing.

"I'm sure Rowena would be very offended."

"My owl knows that I like her because she requires little attention from me."

"Of course she does."

"Anyway, what are you taking Lydjah?" Sam cut in.

"Study of Ancient Runes, Magical Theory, I'm continuing with Spanish and…"

"And?" Jayna already knew of course.

"Divination." She sighed, bracing herself. The two Gryffindors blinked at her.

"What?!" They exclaimed in unison.

"But that subject's a load of shit!" James added.

"I know! But it'll give me access to the crystal balls whenever I want and it might help me focus my visions. At the moment they're just a load of random bollocks about who's going to snog who. Not that I want any more scary prophecies but-"

"Any more? How many have you had?" Jayna joked. It was a good thing Lydjah had loved Drama in Primary school.

"None, I meant you know ones like Harry Potter's." Jayna didn't pick up on the lie, for which she was grateful.

"Oh right."

"Anyway, yeah I'm going to take it this year and see if it helps any and if it doesn't I'll drop it before OWLs. What are you taking Sam?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy."

"Arithmancy? I wouldn't have thought you'd take that." Jayna said, surprised.

"I actually quite liked Maths in primary. Apparently they're similar so yeah."

"Well I love maths; I'm taking Arithmancy as well. And Ancient Runes and Magical Theory and Muggle Studies and Spanish."

"Are you even allowed to take that many?"

"I've got some extra lessons after dinner where some of them clash in my timetable."

"No way are you going to be able to take all of those up to OWL year." James scoffed. Jayna's eyes narrowed. Lydjah sighed exasperatedly.

"Why did you say that? Now she's actually going to take them all."

"What?" Jayna and James asked.

"Don't set Jayna an academic challenge. She'll do it with a smug grin and beat you by a mile. Watch now; she'll get Os in all of those subjects just to spite you." Jayna considered this and then shrugged with a grin, knowing it was true. Put her in a social situation and dare her just to say to hey to someone and she'd stare at you like you were an idiot, but ask her to do something like find all the rooms in Hogwarts and somehow she'd hand you a map in a fortnight (not that James needed another one).

"Ee are? Sam? Yuh cock! I've not seen you in ages! Footie with the dick-squad was this year. We did well shit without yuh." The four of them turned their heads round to see an older boy leant against the park 'gate' (it was missing both of its hinges) with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Sam's eyes widened and she grinned, standing up and grabbing the boy into a one-armed back-slapping hug.

"'Ey up Will! Fuck man, it's been too long. Not since what? Last Christmas?" As she spoke she nicked the cigarette out of the boy's mouth and stamped it out on the ground. He rolled his eyes lazily and took a second from the back pocket of his keks, lighting it in a practiced move.

"Yeah think so. Yuh got any chuddy? Mi stomach thinks mi throat's cut. Or a drink? I'm gaggin' for one."

"Yeah I got some chud." Sam reached into her jacket pocket, where she had a pack of Drooble's best blowing gum. Knowing Will as she did (stealing someone's first kiss meant nothing to her little gang of mates, but for some reason it had brought her and Will closer, mostly because he didn't want her to tell anyone that had been his first kiss), and that he couldn't blow a bubble to save his life she figured she was probably safe.

"Nice one." He stubbed the cigarette into the gate and took the proffered gum. "Awh that's well mint that. Gettit? Coz it's-"

"Minty? I gettit. Stop being such a daft 'apeth."

"Awh Sam yuh know Chris?" Will said, after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"What it is right, yeah; the dibbles gone 'nd got him couple of months ago."

"Nah man! Stop ya chattin'."

"Swear down Sam. Went 'nd visited him and everythin'."

"Awh fuck. What for?"

"Sellin' Angel Dust course."

"Shittin' Hell, the prick. What the fuck's he doin'? And yuh! What did they cut your hair with, a knife and fork?" Will scowled and ran a hand over his short choppy hair that he'd obviously cut himself, judging by the strange lengths on each side.

"Fuck off yuh cock. Ya hair's full o' lugs." Sam shoved him lightly, leaning against the gate with him. "Yuh wanna come to me gaff? Liam just got back."

"No shit."

"Er, Sam?" James asked hesitantly. Sam looked up and caught his eye, before colouring slightly.

"Oh right yeah. Dwp," James scowled at the new nickname that Sam was so proud of; she knew some welsh from Billy and was currently calling James 'stupid' all the time, "Jayna, Lydjah; this is Will Saylor, one of me- my mates from home."

"Sup." Will said, jerking his head.

"Will, James Potter, Jayna Blackwood and Lydjah Dawson; they all go to my school." Will gave them a look over as they all smiled politely and then snorted. Sam punched him in the arm.

"Oh come on Sam. What the fuckin' hell's kind of name is Jayna?"

"Ignoring the grammatical inadequacies of that sentence; it's French." Jayna said, bristling. Will gave her the finger.

"Will, fuck off I've got friends over. Yuh gonna be here tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

“Then I'll see you then. For ya brother, course." Will rolled his eyes again and stopped leaning against the 'gate', shaking his head at her disappointedly.

"Didn't think yuh'd be the one to go soft cock." Sam punched him in the face.

Lydjah, Jayna and even James gave a gasp of shock. Will spat red into the grass and grinned bloodily at Sam before swinging his own fist. Except unlike him Sam dodged, and was coming back at him in another second. Her head plunged into his stomach and he fell backwards, dragging her with him so they were tumbling through the grass-shaped broken glass green with red in their eyes and danger in their fists.

Neither Jayna nor James had any idea how to separate the fight without using magic and Lydjah had no interest in getting punched herself, especially as Sam seemed to be the one who was winning. The fight was not elegant, like swordplay, or pretty, like a wizard's duel, or in any way entertaining for the spectators; it was blunt and harsh and fast, just like Sam herself.

After a few furious seconds the fight stopped abruptly, with Sam pinning Will's arms with her knees while sat on his chest, her fists ready to punch him again. Will burst out laughing and a moment later she joined in, clambering off him and giving him a hand up. Her nose was bleeding and Will appeared to have lost a tooth. The stunned three stared at the two of them with suspicion, waiting for them to start fighting again. When they did nothing but continue to laugh, Jayna began to wonder if perhaps she needed to take them both to have their heads checked.

"Awh in a bit yeah Sam?"

"Yeah."

"Right." He nodded his head again to the other three, still looking thoroughly unimpressed with them, and swaggered off the way he'd come in, lighting a new cigarette as he did so.

"What the actual fuck mate?" James asked, finally coming out of his shock to hand her a tissue.

"What?" She asked, holding the tissue to her nose.

"You were speaking an entirely different language with him!" Jayna exclaimed, still looking for signs of concussion.

"It wasn't a different language. Just a different way of speakin'- Speaking English."

"Is that how you usually speak?"

"Nah. Just when I'm out with my mates. At home I speak like this because Alex does. Don't know why actually seeing as she's lived here her whole life but yeah."

"How old is Will?" Lydjah asked.

"Er… What is he… 18 now? He's still in Year 11 though because he keeps failing his mocks."

"Year 11?"

"Fifth year."

"Oh."

"Bit of a tosser really but he's a good guy."

"And who's Liam?"

"His brother. He's 21, just got back from uni. Liam was the head of our gang till he went. Course it's not really my gang anymore but I still know them all."

"You're pretty damn good at fighting." James admired. Sam rolled her eyes.

“Please. Growing up around this lot? Even Jayna would be good at fighting.” Jayna narrowed her eyes in mock-annoyance.

“How are my favourite celebrities by the way?” Jayna asked mischievously. “The Chosen One's son and 'Sami' had a very interesting article in the Daily Prophet.”

“Oh it's so irritating!” Sam said furiously, her anger slightly muffled by the tissue.

“I do think it's a bit harsh that they said you were a bad influence just because you told them to piss off. Surely they must get that all the time. I mean, they are the press.”

“Oh I don't care about that bit. It's the fact they call me 'Sami'.”

“That's your name isn't it, Samantha dearest.” James grinned. Sam had her wand at his throat a second later, in full view of the, admittedly empty, park.

“You'd better watch your step Dwp. It's Sam, just Sam, and you know it.”

“So Sam's the name on your birth certificate as well?” Lydjah asked.

“Yeah. That's my full name.”

“Oh! That's what I forgot to ask.” Jayna said quickly.

“What?”

“Potter, seeing as Fred's your cousin do you know anything about-” Jayna was cut off as Lydjah tackled her and squished her into the ground.

“Please ignore her, she has no idea what she's talking abou-” Lydjah shrieked as Jayna tickled her, leaping away from her friend.

“What about Fred?” James asked, amused. Lydjah sighed, knowing there was no point in resisting further.

“Do you know why he would randomly come up to Lydjah here in the middle of the Quidditch World Cup, snog her, and then disappear back into the crowd?”

“He did what?”

“I told you; I gave him my number at Roxanne's party, we've met up a couple of times and we're sort of going out. What's the problem?” Lydjah said exasperatedly, with the air of someone who had repeated the same thing many times before now. James frowned.

“See?” Jayna said.

“What?” Sam asked. “That's a pretty normal explanation.”

“Yeah if you're the most boring sod on the planet. Details Lydjah! Details!” Jayna looked as if she was on the verge of strangling her friend. With a little prayer and the half-formed thought of 'why-on-earth-was-he-doing-this-to-himself' James flung the worm he'd found sliding through the grass onto Jayna's lap. There was a beat of silence and then Jayna screamed, so loudly that the fat pigeon that had been sat near them was startled into flight (something Sam claimed was later physically impossible as it was that huge), and stood up, stopping only long enough to fling the worm off her skirt before lunging for James' throat. Luckily he'd had the foresight to already be running by the time she'd realised it was him.

As they ran round the park Lydjah shot James an 'I-owe-you-one-look' to which he seemed to reply with 'yes-you-fucking-do'.


	6. Of Returning to Hogwarts and Merlin Damnit These Potatoes Are Amazing!

"Merlin damn it these potatoes are amazing!" Molly quietly exclaimed as she stared longingly at the food in front of her. In an unfortunate mishap, the elves had served the food too early and the sorting was still waiting to begin as the student population tried very hard not to salivate onto their new robes during the hat's song. Molly was having particular trouble as in front of her was her favourite interestingly shaped potatoes; there were ones like cauldrons and unicorns and even acromantulas (which she took vicious joy in stabbing).

Lien was crying as she tried to stifle her giggles, and the red-headed girl hiding behind her hair next to her was literally shaking with the effort of doing the same. Molly kicked Lien's leg as the door opened and the first-years walked in though.

"Guess who that is." Lien grinned, rolling her eyes as she gestured with her head to the girl at the front of the procession. Hayden Andrews was striding forwards, apparently having not met anyone on the train she wanted to stick with, swinging her dip-dyed hair defiantly. She was tiny, and her face didn't have the femininity that Sam's possessed, instead being rounder in face and fuller in lips, though looking as if she would one day be just as deceptively gorgeous as her sister was destined to be, but her stance was just like Sam's, as was the cool vibe she excluded as she popped a red bubble-gum balloon without batting an eye.

Professor Babbling, looking as ancient as always, unrolled the scroll of names and squinted at them.

"Abraham, Cassidy!" Cassidy seemed to melt out of the crowd of scared first years, as if she'd been conjured just by her name, and hadn't been there the whole time. She leapt prettily onto the stool, and blinked wide-eyed at the view it gave her.

"Slytherin!" Even those in green took a moment to stare in surprise before bursting into applause.

"Andrews, Hayden!" Hayden later swore that the hat didn't even touch her hair before it answered.

"Gryffindor!" The people at the start of the register always got the most enthusiastic applause unless it was someone's relative, but even so the Gryffindors cheered a little excessively. Sam and James both stood up and cheered for a good minute before Professor Vector finally managed to call for silence. All the while Hayden popped more bubble-gum with a small, exasperated but pleased, smile that kept up her cool appearance while still showing appreciation to her sister and the boy she'd once knocked out with a fire extinguisher.

"Bagby, Lizzie!" Jayna sat forwards slightly at the name, watching her old gardener's daughter perch on the stool.

"Hufflepuff!" Jayna smiled and clapped, planning on talking to her later.

"Carpenter, Anya!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Chamberlain, Randolph!" The next kid to slide out from the crowd made just as much of an impression as Hayden had. His hair was bright emerald green, the same colour as Albus' eyes, and gelled into a swooping Mohawk. Everyone got the distinct impression, from his name and his many ear piercings, that he was trying to rebel against uptight parents.

“Slytherin!" Scorpius and Albus whooped as loudly as the rest of their house as the next Slytherin made his way to the table. Randolph (known as Green to his friends, for obvious reasons), sat next to Cassidy. They both seemed a little shy, and hit it off immediately. It would take Green five years for him to realise he was in love with her, but unfortunately it would be too late by then.

"Chandler, Hilda!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Are there any Ravenclaws this year?" Lydjah muttered.

"Darby, Elisa!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Finally!" She exclaimed. There was a slight argument about it later, but, according to the girl herself, this was the exact moment that Jayna blacked out and began to scream like a banshee.

"Jayna! JAYNA! Jayna! Shut up!" Lydjah, along with Sam and Professor Jordan, was hauling her best friend bodily out of the Great Hall as she continued to shriek and shriek amongst shaken onlookers and confused first-years. The Ravenclaw was thrashing about wildly, her eyes still closed. James and the others had been stopped by Professor Jordan as they tried to follow, and Sam was only allowed because she was strong enough to hold Jayna's flailing limbs down.

"Let's get her to the Hospital Wing!" Professor Jordan shouted over her yells as the doors slammed shut behind them. Abruptly Jayna cut herself off and started sobbing, all still with her eyes closed. Lydjah leaned close to her friend's mouth, as she appeared to be mouthing words.

"Please, please, please-" Jayna whispered. Lydjah jumped back with a squeak as she started shrieking again, tears streaming down her cheeks. This time she was screaming words though. "PLEASE! Please! I won't tell, I won't tELL! PLEASE!" The halting screams continued, on and off, all the way there. Madam Longbottom came out of the wing as soon as they turned into the corridor, terror evident on her features. When she saw Jayna, the terror disappeared, replaced with worry.

"Bring her inside. Quickly." She held the door open as Sam dragged her through and all but threw her on the nearest bed before collapsing into a chair.

The matron cast a silencing spell, and then, with a wince, Petrificus Totalus. Jayna continued to scream, but silently now, her limbs frozen to her sides.

"Cecily, get me a Dreamless Sleep Potion from the cupboard above my desk." The Transfiguration teacher complied without complaint. "Miss Dawson; what happened?"

"I don't- I don't know; one minute she was clapping for some Hufflepuff girl, the next she was one the floor screaming."

"Some Hufflepuff girl?" Madam Longbottom said sharply. Lydjah screwed up her face in concentration.

"Lizzie… Bagshot? Bagily?" Lydjah's eyes were flicking between the matron and Jayna's mouth, still opened in a silent scream.

"Bagby." Sam supplied, slightly breathless from the excursion.

"Lizzie Bagby? Does she have some relation to Jayna? Something that would trigger-" Madam Longbottom cut herself off with a quick glance to Sam. Lydjah waved her away.

"She knows some of it already, Jayna wouldn't care. Just continue."

"Something that would trigger Jayna's memories of the Cruciatus curse?"

"From October? No; besides, surely if it was from October, seeing James, Potter that is, would trigger it." Sam said. Lydjah snapped her fingers in realisation.

"Bagby! Lizzie is Jayna's old gardener's daughter. We met him at the Quidditch World Cup."

"The gardener that worked for Jayna's family before the accident?"

"Yes." The matron's face got very dark. She took the potion from Professor Jordan and poured it down Jayna's throat without another word. Jayna's open mouth finally went slack and when Madam Longbottom took the body-bind off her the Ravenclaw went straight into her usual spread-eagled sleeping shape. "What? Why does that matter?" Lydjah asked, her voice quieter with relief.

"I'm afraid that's something I'll have to discuss with just Jayna, when she wakes up. I'd go back to the feast. Thank you for your help." The clear dismissal wasn't taken well by any of them, even Professor Jordan, but they all acquiesced and left the wing, Jayna's gentle snores like some ironic echo behind them.

 

"What the Hell happened?" James hissed as Sam slid into the seat beside him again. When they'd come back into the Hall whispers had been spread along the tables, but no-one was rude enough to interrupt the Sorting. Or, James thought, not enough people cared enough to. The idea made him clench his fists. If he had been the one that had to be dragged out kicking and screaming everyone would be crowding around hoping to see if he was ok, because he was a 'good guy', because he was Harry Potter's son. Not that he was denying that he was, but too many people put too much faith in a surname. Jayna was a Blackwood, so Jayna was evil. Scorpius was a Malfoy, so Scorpius was untrustworthy. Sam was a Muggleborn, so Sam was weak.

It irked him to no end. Jayna was his friend, and if people weren't so prejudice, she'd be their friend too.

"Quick, Grace!"

"I don't know." Sam said back, looking slightly shaken, though obviously trying to hide it as she smiled at her sister down the table as if nothing was wrong. "Madam Longbottom said something about the cruciatus curse; she had those nightmares last year didn't she? And then she asked if there had been any mention of her family, and then she got very cross and sent us all out."

"That makes no sense!"

"I know. We're going to have to quiz Jayna later."

"Ravenclaw!" The hat finally decided.

"Revie, Isaiah!"

"Slytherin!"

"Why would Jayna know any more than we do? I thought she blacked out?"

“Sandford, Jasper!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Oi Sam!" Sam looked at her best friend in annoyance at his exclamation.

"What?"

"Stop staring holes into the back of your girlfriend's head; she's not going anywhere, and answer my question!" Sam didn't blush but it was clear to James she was embarrassed by the way she averted her gaze for a few seconds.

"Tanner, Hope!"

"I haven't seen her in six weeks because you insisted we spend the entire train ride setting dungbombs all over the train-"

"Which you enjoyed immensely!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"I didn't say I didn't! But I still didn't get to see her!"

"Thacker, Keaton!"

"Gryffindor!" Their conversation was cut off as they clapped enthusiastically for what was likely to be the last person to join their house.

"Vipond, Demi!" The last student scrambled up to the stool, obviously hoping to get the crowd's attention off her as soon as possible.

"Hufflepuff!"

"Without further ado; eat!" Professor Vector said quickly, as soon as Demi had sat down. The students heeded her words with glee, digging into the food in front of them with several moans of 'finally' being heard around the room.

Scorpius, however, had no chance to do the same as he'd been taught for most of his life it was rude to start eating while people were trying to talk to you, even if that person was the newly-made Slytherin, Vincent Goyle.

"Are you going to write to your father tonight? I bet they won't be surprised." 'Vince' cut himself off to do what he called a laugh and what the rest of the world viewed as a coughing fit. Albus looked vaguely alarmed until Scorpius forced a grin at the new addition to their table.

"Vince," Scorpius said, through gritted teeth and a polite smile, "this is my best friend-"

"Albus Potter." Vincent sneered. Then he laughed his horrible choking giggle again. "Best friend? You had me for a second there Scorpius. Obviously I'm your best friend." He snorted some more. Albus sent Scorpius a 'what the actual fuck' look. Vincent Goyle was more like two children stuck together. He was huge, both in shoulder and stomach, but had a strangely tiny head which Scorpius thought summed him up rather nicely. Next to him, Scorpius looked tiny despite being a year older, but also much more attractive than he actually was.

Thankfully he was saved from answering by Jack Coleman knocking a jug of pumpkin juice 'accidentally' onto Al's lap. Well, thankfully might not be the right word, but saved at least. It looked like Jack and Vincent would be good friends, by the way they snorted in synchronisation.

He took this moment to dig into his food and, thank Merlin for small miracles, Vincent finally realised they were allowed to do that and grabbed a piece of steak with a bit too much enthusiasm.

 

"Miss Blackwood?" Jayna opened her eyes with all the grace of a drowning elephant. There were no fluttering eyelashes or soft sighs of 'oh I just woke up from a beautiful dream'. She peeled her eyes open, made a face at the light, closed them again and tried to press her face into the pillow, which was slightly damp from where she'd drooled into it (the advantage of having short hair was that drool never went into it). That's when her sluggish mind processed the narrow image she'd seen when she'd squinted at the room, and she snapped them open again, feeling even more disorientated than she usually did when she woke up for the first time at Hogwarts. "Jayna?"

Her gaze fixed on the blurry image of Madam Longbottom's concerned face. She blinked and the image became clearer. She put her palms up to pull herself onto her pillows and sit up. The movement felt a little stiff, but she didn't hurt anywhere. The last thing she remembered was Lizzie Bagby being sorted into Hufflepuff- and then that horrible, horrible nightmare.

"What happened?" Jayna croaked, realising she must have been screaming in her sleep, again, for her throat to be this sore.

"During the Sorting ceremony yesterday you blacked out and then had a fit. Your friends had to drag you here. I knocked you out with a dreamless sleep potion. I hope you don't mind; I couldn't really ask your permission."

"No that's fine. I had a fit? In front of the entire school?" Jayna bit her lip, heat rising in her cheeks at the idea.

"Yes." Madam Longbottom hesitated. "A fit, caused by repressed memories that were triggered by Lizzie Bagby, of the cruciatus curse."

"What?"

"I'm almost certain of it. I've never seen a case as extensive as yours but unconscious repression of memories is common in those who've had that inflicted on them, and their memories are often triggered by things that are related to the event. Jayna…" Hannah Longbottom moved to sit on the edge of Jayna's bed. "I know you don't wish to believe it, and I'm not suggesting it was everyone in your family but-"

"My grandfather used to torture me then wipe my memory of it. I tried to run once; I crashed into Lizzie in the gardens and he caught up with me and obliviated us both." Madam Longbottom gasped as Jayna stared defeatedly down at her hands.

They weren't nightmares at all. They were memories. The ones she'd had the year before she couldn't remember when she woke up, but it looked like she was recalling them now.  
She needed to talk to her friends.

"Oh Jayna." The matron whispered, apparently at a loss for what to say.

"It's ok- I mean it's not, of course it's not-" To her horror she started to sob. Hannah Longbottom gathered her into her arms without a word, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"Rise and shine nerd we've got chocolate-" James and Sam entered grinning, before faltering in the doorway.

"Er-" Jayna kept her face turned away from them, letting go of the nurse so she could wipe the tears away from her cheeks.

"We can come back later-" Sam started awkwardly, trying to drag James away. He shook her off and stalked over to Jayna's bed. Jayna looked determinedly at her hands, twisting them in the sheets. Madam Longbottom got up, not sure what she was going to do when James pulled Jayna into a warm hug. She stiffened, unsure of what on earth he was doing, but he didn't let go.

Madam Longbottom smiled and left to go into her office to write Jayna's prescription, knowing, if James was anything like his father, she was leaving Jayna in capable hands. Sam brought the chocolate over to the end of the bed and sat in the empty chair by her bedside. Hesitantly, as if she was sure she'd regret this; she reached over and squeezed Jayna's hand.

Jayna chuckled into James shoulder and pulled away from him, smiling embarrassedly but genuinely at them both.

"What's wrong?" James asked gently. Jayna breathed in deeply through her nose.

"If I tell you, can you please relate it to the others because I'm not saying it twice."

"Of course." Sam nodded.

"Muffilato." Jayna whispered, pointing her wand at the general direction of the matron's office, only feeling a slight pang of guilt. "So- well I'd better start at the beginning. You know the Courtyard duel? At the start of last year?"

"Yeah."

"Well we were all obliviated at the end of that. But unlike everyone else, the more I tried to remember, the more I forgot. I can't remember that entire day now. That's not normal. So I found out that it's a symptom of someone who's repeatedly had the memory charm performed on them. Obviously I wouldn't know if this was true and the prospect kind of scared me so I tried to forget about it. No pun intended." She added, with a sad little smile. "Then I was tortured when we were kidnapped in October. Normally you have to go to St Mungos for that, so that wasn't odd, but my side-effects were. It's normal to have nightmares after being tortured, but not as many as I was having, and nerve damage usually only occurs in extreme circumstances. I was given Dreamless Sleep Potion and that took away most of my problems. I had lots of nightmares once my prescription ran out but they weren't quite as frequent."

"I thought you had them every night for a bit?"

"I did."

"Then that's very frequent!"

"No it's not. In St Mungos for the first two days I was constantly having fits, like the one I had yesterday. So every night wasn't as bad as every day as well. Anyway the number of nightmares lessened and I assumed that was the end of it. I could never properly recall any of them, until today.

"Lizzie Bagby is the daughter of my family's old gardener. When I saw her for the first time after the kidnapping, she triggered a suppressed memory of mine. It wasn't suppressed by me, but by obliviation. I-" She stopped, and backtracked a little. "My grandfather was a really strange bloke. Very set in his ways, very old-fashioned. Not great, but not awful."

"Your grandfather Roland Blackwood?"

"Yeah. And, well, my family all knew about the experiments he used to conduct every so often in the cellar. Not like any of us really knew… It was sort of like we were aware it happened, like we were aware that Elizabeth is the Queen of England, but none of us knew how we knew, and none of us ever saw him go down there or hear anything… Cara and I… We thought perhaps it was Muggleborns he was testing something on; he was a great potioneer you see and we thought maybe he was just trying his experiments out. We didn't think they were dangerous potions and, well back then I thought Muggleborns were like rats, so it didn't really seem worse to me than animal testing." Jayna said, with an apologetic glance at Sam. She shrugged it off with a shudder. "He wasn't though."

"He wasn't torturing Muggleborns?"

"No; he was torturing me."

"Wait; whAT?!" They both yelled, horror covering their features.

"That's not all of it." Jayna took a moment to stare at her hands again, working past the lump in her throat. "H-He wasn't doing for fun. He was telling me about his organisation, preparing me for when I would join it. And then, to keep me from telling the rest of my family, he would torture me and take my memories, so I wouldn't want to have the memories back and would consciously suppress them even further until he decided to give them to me. I was repressing almost a bad feeling, like I didn't know what it was that I couldn't remember, only that I didn't want to remember it."

"What organisation was he a part of?" James asked, dread curling in his stomach. Jayna looked up and caught his eye.

"The Nightwatchers."


	7. Of What Happened While Jayna Was Asleep and What Happened After She Woke Up

"Students!" Everyone looked up from their empty plates to where Professor Vector was standing. "A few notices. First of all; Madam Longbottom has assured me Jayna Blackwood is fine, and will be perfectly well tomorrow. Secondly, as ever, the Forbidden Forest is Forbidden for a reason. It grieves me to say, however, that our caretaker Argus Filch will not be here to reprimand you about it this year as he has decided to retire. I hope you will join me in welcoming Brendon Thorne to the new position." A middle-aged, stern but not unfriendly looking man waved stiffly from the corner of the room as everyone applauded politely, but with big grins on their faces (especially James and Sam) at the thought of the ancient evil caretaker finally leaving. "I would also like to welcome our last student to be Sorted, who will be going into her Third-Year here at Hogwarts. Aurélie Beauchene is studying English as well as magic, and I know you will forgive her if she makes a mistake."

Aurélie was a small petite girl, with long hair that was so inky black it almost looked purple and miniscule hands. When she looked up through her long waves however, the onlookers were shocked to see smouldering gold eyes blinking back at them without a hint of embarrassment. Even Sam was a little off put, until she broke out a shy smile that seemed to make even Professor Moore's heart melt (the Alchemy and Ancient Studies teacher was seldom seen smiling, not only because his subjects were only taken by a few people each year, but also because he was a vampire, though he was occasionally a guest speaker in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes about his species).

Professor Moore's employment at the school had raised less objections than one might expect; when Remus Lupin was awarded the Order of Merlin; First Class after his death for defending Hogwarts against the Death Eaters, people were slightly less vocal in their complaints against non-humans. Professor Moore himself might have won them over as well seeing as his face was flawlessly perfect. No-one knew if that was because of his vampirism or just because he used to be a model (or what the 1860s saw as a model) but everyone was attracted to him. He had been a Slytherin in his day, and, according to gossip, had gone on holiday with his family in Eastern Europe (no-one was quite sure where) during his twenties where he'd been bitten and turned.

The only downside to Professor Moore's appearance (other than that he was permanently pale and had fangs, though some may not consider this a downside) was he was constantly sucking blood-pops, which did make him look somewhat funny.

Aurélie sat down on the stool. The hat slipped over her head and covered her eyes.

"Hufflepuff!"

Those in yellow cheered. Lydjah hoped that she'd got some food in before she went up, because that would be awful if she'd just had to watch everyone else eating.

"As I'm sure you've noticed," Professor Vector continued, "Professor Slughorn has also decided to go into his second retirement, which leaves me to announce that Professor Elswood will now be the Head of Slytherin House," She paused for the applause from those in green and silver, "and to introduce our second new member of staff and Potions master; Professor Alfredson."

"Oh my Merlin." Lien whispered as he stood up.

Possibly the only positive effect of the Battle of Hogwarts was that lots of students had gained enormous respect for their teachers and went on to train to be teachers themselves, meaning a lot of the current teachers were young and, in the students' eyes, attractive.

Professors Binns, Vector, Hooch, Trelawney, Sinistra, Rossesson, Hobbs, Hagrid (bless his heart) and now Thorne were exempt from the students fawning. But all the other teachers…

Professor Jordan was early thirties, just over six feet tall, with sleek sheets of chestnut brown hair, fabulous ability with eye-liner and a rather interesting wardrobe that ranged from Victorian style wizard robes to jeans and an Appleby Arrows t-shirt.

If people preferred blonde hair there was Professor Avisana, witty, clever, what idiots liked to call 'exotic' and what normal people called tanned, a bold dress sense and a wild streak that everyone had seen in the infamous teacher snowball fight of 2016.

Then there was the Spanish Professor Casales, who had features as soft and kind-looking as her nature, a beautiful singing voice, curly black ringlets and who was only, as the seventh years liked to point out, five years out of school herself.

Professor Van Allen wasn't everybody's cup of tea; she was a bit of a bitch to be honest, but no-one could deny that she was striking; cheekbones like Angelina Jolie's and a dry sense of humour.

Both Professor and Madam Longbottom had a fan-club, though the former's was considerably larger than his wife's.

Professor Sanders was the opposite of Professor Moore; golden hair to match his bronzed skin, a constantly friendly attitude… Plus he was over a hundred years younger.

Professor Elswood was a very interesting guy; he'd been in a band in his youth and someone (bless them) had found their old photos; he used to have a Mohawk not unlike Green's and seventeen piercings to match. He had curly brown hair that he kept short and an 'adorable' pair of thick black glasses now, but all those interested were determined to see if he still had his 'dark' side.

Professor Alfredson blew them all out of the water.

Easily six foot four, a muscular torso high-lighted by his too-small t-shirt, chin length shaggy brown hair, flint coloured eyes, a thin but long scar that travelled from his left eyebrow to the right corner of his mouth and a gorgeous arse to boot.

"He's teaching Potions?" Lydjah whispered to Lee, fanning herself. The lesbian smiled, agreeing.

"Not my type… I'd probably still bang him." Lydjah burst out laughing.

"Finally I would like to announce our Head Girl and Head Boy this year; Emma Lacy and Atticus Truman!" Professor Vector announced, after the thunderous whoops and wolf-whistles had died down. The two Heads stood up and smiled awkwardly, Atticus looking too enthusiastic, Emma looking as enthusiastic to be spending a year working with him as she would eating a pile of horned-slugs.

No-one was surprised when Atticus Truman was announced to be Head Boy, mainly because he seemed to have made it his personal mission to tell every single person on the train ride up, but Emma Lacy's new status caused a bit of a ruckus especially as that was two Ravenclaw Head Girls in a row. It wasn't as big a surprise as Emma's new boyfriend was; apparently she'd finally fallen for the roguish Gryffindor's charm but no-one could doubt Killian was head over heels for the girl, though many girls were very upset at his unavailableness. Speaking of the handsome dark lion turned into a handsome adorable puppy every time he looked at Emma, he was cheering very loudly for her, while sending subtle glares in Atticus' direction, not that the Hufflepuff noticed.

"Now if the new students would follow their Prefects back to their Common Rooms…" Professor Vector didn't bother to finish as the scraping of benches began.

As soon as the Start-Of-Year Feast was over the seven of them met up by the Gryffindor table, as if they'd somehow managed to communicate across tables (Lydjah had thought James was having a spasm when he tried to Morse-code blink at her, made worse by the fact that James had no idea how Morse-code worked and was trying to blink out syllables), though Scorpius had taken a while to try and extract himself from Vincent before the first-year was dragged off by the Slytherin Seventh Year Prefects; Lynne Nott and Neal Quigg.

"Hospital Wing?" Scorpius asked, trying and failing to look unconcerned over his oldest friend's current crazy banshee status.

"She's knocked out, won't wake up until the morning." Lydjah disagreed.

"Oh."

"Look let's just go back to our common rooms and unpack our stuff; we can all visit her in the morning and then… We'll meet up on Thursday like usual?" Albus suggested.

"Our timetables have all changed this year," James interjected, gesturing to his other third-years, "I don't know if Thursdays are still ok with everyone."

"Well how about we meet up for lunch then?"

"Lunch on Thursday, at the Kitchens." Sam confirmed.

"Sounds good. See you later." James called, as him and Sam wandered off towards Gryffindor tower.

By the time they got back to the Gryffindor common room it was mostly empty with everyone going to unpack their things upstairs. One person sat hunched in the big armchair however, sniffling quietly.

"Is that George Arnold?" Sam whispered as they got closer to the person.

"Georgia." James corrected.

"What?"

"She identifies as Georgia now."

"Oh."

"Max was making some comment about how all the boys in her old dorm were being real dicks about it."

"Well one of them is called Quenby so I don't know what he's laughing about." At this comment a surprised little snort sounded from the sniffling mess and they realised perhaps they should have kept to whispering.

"Georgia? Are you ok?" Georgia sniffed some more.

"I'm just- I'm just scared."

"Of what?" James asked gently.

"What if the stairs won't let me up? Or the girls won't let me in because of…" She trailed off and gestured to herself self-consciously.

"I read that the stairs change based on gender not genitalia after they had a eunuch one year a few centuries ago."

"Besides you can only try!" Sam said encouragingly. "And if it doesn't work James and I know a way to get him up the stairs so…" Georgia smiled at them.

"Ok." James went and stood at the end of the stairs, something Georgia realised was a display of how confident he was they wouldn't turn into a slide because if they did he'd be knocked sprawling. Sam led the way to her new dorm. Hesitantly Georgia slowly made her way up the steps.

They held.

Unabashedly, Georgia started to cry again, this time happily. James whooped and then called that he was going to unpack his stuff. Sam opened the fifth-year girl's dormitory to let Georgia through, bracing herself for having to slap someone.

"Hey." Lena Farnham said. "We were wondering when you were going to come up here. Sorry we kind of nicked all the best beds."

"Yeah. Erm, what is your name now? Only I don't want to misgender your name-" Honour Landon rushed in.

"It's Georgia."

"Cool Georgia. What's have you taken for your OWLs? I took way too many I think, looking at my timetable. Ugh I'm going to fail everything." Lena groaned, flopping down on her bedcovers. Georgia's smile could have lit a thousand cities in that moment.

"See you later Georgia."

"Thanks Sam."

 

"THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP OWEN?! YOUR COUSINS BEING IN IT? YOU NOT TELLING ME?" Was James' response to Owen Xylander asking why James had immediately started thumping him repeatedly with a pillow as soon as he saw him.

"It's not that big of a deal. They're distant cousins; I only see them once a year."

"You get to see Quidditch celebrities once a year?!"

"You live with one, and also the bloody saviour of the Wizarding world." Quinn pointed out dryly. James glared at him.

"Besides I don't like Quidditch."

"You don't-" James said, looking faint. "How can you not like Quidditch? That's like not liking pygmy puffs or-"

"You like pygmy puffs?" Max chortled. "You're so gay." James counted slowly down from ten in his head, knowing that outright punching the guy wouldn't change his attitude.

"One, and the least important point; I have had so many more girlfriends then you, you freaking idiot. Two, pygmy puffs are the freaking cutest little balls of fluff but with eyes that anyone has ever seen ever. If you can't see that you're blind. Three, I don't care that they're pink, because I am not so insecure about my masculinity that I need to only wear blue things. Four, gay people are just like normal people, and, while the majority of gay people probably love pygmy puffs because the majority of the world likes pygmy puffs, that's nothing to do with their sexuality. Five, using the word gay like the word 'idiot' is only going to increase homophobia."

Max rolled his eyes.

James knocked him off his bed with the force of his pillow throw. Damn he was going to be a good Chaser.

 

Molly and Lien were a little surprised to find the red-headed girl from their table in their dorm, as they'd never seen her before. Molly cleared her throat as she entered the room, and all the girls turned around, including-

"Isabella?" Lien asked, shocked. Gone was Isabella's black hair; in its place was deep auburn. "Your hair…" Isabella curled one of her locks shyly around her finger.

"How did you change your hair colour like that?"

"I didn't. This is my natural hair-colour; I was charming it all of last year but… I think I prefer it like this."

"Me too." Molly blurted. "Don't get me wrong; last year it looked lovely but now… Red hair really suits you."

"Thanks."

 

Less than twenty-four hours later, Lydjah was strolling into the Hospital Wing, only to find she'd been beaten by James and Sam. The tension in the room was palpable; both Gryffindors were staring at a recently-crying Jayna with horrified shock.

"What's happened?" Lydjah asked, hurrying over to her bedside. Jayna turned away pressing her face into the pillow. "Jay-Jay?"

When only silence answered her Sam spoke, standing up from the bed. "Lydjah; come with us; we'll explain everything."


	8. Of First Lessons and Muggle Designs

The first lesson back after any holiday was usually miserable to all participants. Not so much after the long summer holidays though, and definitely not to our eight.

Sam's first lesson started with utter hilarity on her part. Over the summer she'd been thinking… And well, what Muggles would now call out-dated wizards still hadn't seen. She'd been digging through the attic during one of her fouler moods, and had come across a pair of her old shoes. She had to wait until she got to Hogwarts to perform the spells; she was a rule-breaker but you only got one warning on magic practiced outside magical settlements when you still had the Trace, and Sam was intent on saving hers for something useful.

Now she glided down the halls of the third floor (she was determined to find out how to get them to work down stairs but was so far unsuccessful), still in her black converse, but the shoes had been adapted to what her mother called 'heelys'. The student population watched in awe as she flew along to Defence Against the Dark Arts without any use of magic. James was running after her, not caring how stupid he looked, calling encouragement and questions as to 'how in Merlin's awful name are you doing that'?

Lydjah cracked up laughing when she saw the confusion in everyone's gazes as Sam glided to a stop outside their classroom, but she didn't give up the secret. Jayna's begrudging admiration was particularly sweet. James was breathless but grinning, his eyes wide.

Pippa Gage, a passing seventh year Gryffindor stopped by her. "How did you manage that? Is it some secret in your family?"

"My family?"

"Your sister was unbelievable this morning; she made a ball vanish into nothing; right in front of me! She's a two day old first-year; how did she manage vanishing charms?!" The poor seventh-year seemed very stressed by the prospect; vanishing charms weren't taught until fifth year. Sam wondered whether to reveal that her sister had been practicing sleight of hand 'magic' all summer, or whether to let the school think her Muggleborn sister was a genius.

It wasn't a hard choice.

"She is very good at them isn't she?" Pippa groaned.

"How did you manage to glide along the floor? I thought that it was some variant of Glacius to start with but there's no ice." Sam merely smiled and winked. "Ugh!" Pippa stormed off, grumbling about injustice, and Sam's smile only grew wider.

"Your sister can do vanishing charms?" Asked Jayna, looking slightly faint.

"Says you Miss non-verbal." Jayna winced. "What?"

"Lydjah and I may have been pranking you and James last year when we said I could do that."

"What?!" They both cried together.

"I can do stupid little spells non-verbally, like the colourful bubble-making charm and I'm trying to teach myself how to do our first year's syllabus but I've only managed the knockback jinx so far."

"You sneaky little geeks." James said, narrowing his eyes. Lydjah and Jayna both smiled at this, mostly because his facial expression was so funny.

"Well since you've admitted that… Do you want my secret or my sister's?"

"Can't I have both?" Jayna whined.

"A secret for a secret Blackwood. Don't you know anything?" James joked. Jayna paled slightly, swaying on her feet.

"Jay-Jay? Is it another memory?" Lydjah asked worriedly, touching her gently on the shoulder. Jayna blinked a few times and shook her head slowly.

"Just a flash of one. Sorry. Continue with what you were saying."

"I can't remember-"

"Secret for a secret was it? Ok… So I need to give you another secret of mine?"

"Sounds about right." Sam grinned.

"Hmm… Did the thing in the Hospital Wing not count?" Sam sighed, knowing she was beat, and gestured for them all to move in closer so that she could whisper to them.

"Fair dos Jayna. Hayden's been practicing sleight of hand Muggle 'magic'. It's where you move things, like plastic balls, in a certain way so that to the viewer they appear to have vanished, but all they've done is hidden it up their sleeve or in their other hand. And as for me…" Sam lifted up her shoe and showed Jayna and James the bottom of her foot, where two wheels were inserted into the soles.

"Cool." James said, grinning. Jayna's eyes went to saucers.

"WOW! They're like mini car wheels! But how do they work? There's no… Engine?"

"Something to do with weight and forces. I was never good at science." Sam shrugged.

"So powered by you then? I agree with Potter for once; so cool." Lydjah feigned a gasp of shock at this proclamation. It was then that Professor Avisana called them into her classroom.

"Welcome back students! Come in, come in." The four of them didn't notice the strange looks they got for sitting together at the back of the classroom. "Alright. Has anyone not got a copy of _The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts_? I have a few spare copies."

Galvin Key, a Ravenclaw, raised a shaky hand from where he sat at the front of the classroom. Every year Galvin had to 'borrow' another book for at least one subject because, well, his family simply couldn't afford it. Jayna frowned a little; having had money her whole life, the implication that Galvin was poor just hadn't occurred to her. He looked a bit shabby, sure, but so did a lot of boys who'd had sudden growth spurts. Sam remembered a conversation she'd had with Molly while she was staying at the Potters' and her part of the Weasley family had come to visit who was appalled at the knowledge that there wasn't any help for families who couldn't afford to send their child to school.

Professor Avisana summoned a book from the cupboard and onto his desk without asking why to his relief but also his shame because it was so obvious. Jayna's frown increased.

"Ok class, register. Sam?"

"Yes miss."

"Quill?"

"Good morning Professor."

"Morning. Jayna?"

"Yes miss."

"Sally?"

"Yes miss." It continued. Once the register had been completed Professor Avisana stood up from her desk.

"I'd just like a quick show of hands to start with. How many of you keep your wands in your hands at all times?" Only a few people in the class raised their hands, Jayna and James among them. "Jayna, why do you do that?" It was only after she said the question that the Professor realised that perhaps Jayna wasn't the person to ask.

"So that I'll always be ready to protect myself and others." Jayna shrugged, as if to lessen her words a little.

"Perfect." Professor Avisana smiled, shooting Jayna a look that she interpreted as an apology. "So can anyone else tell me why they _don't_ always have their wands in their hands?" Sally raised her arm. "Sally, yes?"

"Well it's a bit inconvenient. I mean, the likelihood we're going to get attacked in school is a lot less than the likelihood of us breaking our wands by tripping over and landing on them, or getting them caught in things. But if I was in some place I didn't know, I'd probably keep my wand out." There were murmurs of agreement around the class. James' hand shot up.

"Yes James?"

"If someone were to attack you though, aren't they most likely to do it where you're comfortable? I know this castle is near impregnable without inside help, no offence to Professor Sinistra intended," the class laughed and he paused. Even Professor Avisana offered him a wry smile, though there was a hint of a warning in her eyes, "but if you get into that way of thinking then you won't be prepared for when you live outside this castle, when you're more open to attack."

"If you get into that way of thinking though," Lydjah argued, without waiting to be called upon, though the Professor didn't stop her, "you'll constantly be paranoid that something's going to jump out at you. I know you're probably not the best case to look at but the likelihood of anyone getting attacked ever, especially in these times, is too minimal to bother constantly being on the defence."

"It's not paranoia that keeps the wand in my hand though;" James shot back, enjoying the debate, "I'm not constantly looking around for danger. I just know it'll be there if I need it."

"If you're not constantly on the alert though, you could be attacked just as easily as someone without a wand so there’s no point carrying it." Olivia backed Lydjah's argument.

"Ah but if I was going to attack someone, I'd definitely pick someone who didn't have a wand on them over someone who did, no matter how alert they looked." Jayna pointed out.

"So you wielding a wand is just going to divert someone's attack away from you and onto someone else?" Josie said, with a disgusted tone. Jayna rolled her eyes.

"No I think what she meant was that if everyone carried their wands, less attacks would happen, because the image of someone carrying a wand, whether they are consciously looking for danger or not, is enough to put most people off." James backed up. Jayna nodded, with a half-surprised smile on her face.

"People don't usually attack others at random though. Sometimes they just pick a certain location and they don't care who is inside, yeah, but if it was an attack on a building it probably won't matter if you had your wand out to start with or not; you'll be just as dead if they decided to bomb it or fiendfyre the place. If someone was out to attack you personally, and you weren't constantly paranoid and looking for danger, there's no point in having your wand out." Sam said. James narrowed his eyes at her giving her a mock-betrayed look.

"I disagree." Rory managed to say before Lydjah turned to look curiously at him and he promptly clamped up.

"So do I." Jayna came to his rescue, still feeling bad about laughing at him last year. "Having my wand in my hand gives me a sense of purpose. I'm not constantly looking for danger, so I'm not paranoid, but I'm always aware that I have my wand on me. It reminds me that in the end it's yourself that you have to trust the most and because, unlike others," she said, with a significant glance at Sam, "I don't have any other way to defend myself, whether that's from an attack or just me tripping and knocking myself down the stairs, it's my magic that's going to keep me safe."

There was a slight pause after her words, where no-one was quite sure what to say. It wasn't that they were very profound, but she delivered them in such a way that everyone knew she'd just divulged something personal, and no-one wanted to be the first person to shoot it down.

"That was an excellent debate, class; exactly what I was hoping would happen. Fifteen points to each house. You have proven to each other that while I will teach you all the same spells and how to protect yourself against dark creatures, I cannot make them be your instinctual behaviour. For some of you, this class will be something you drop in three years' time, because you're not interested in learning how to be scared in order to be brave. That's ok. That doesn't mean you can't be brave anyway, but that you don't desire to be brave as a job. For others, you plan to take this class all the way to becoming something in the law enforcement, where you can fight the darkness every day. A life of danger, never knowing if you'll make it back this time, but becoming better with every fight you partake in. And for still others of you, you will not realise at this point that you need this class. If you want to go into Healing for example; most people think learning how to fight should be the last thing on their minds. But understanding a fight in order to treat a wound is a crucial part of the Healing profession. I would suggest that no matter which of these three groups you fall into, or partially into, you should try and make your spells instinctive. In the end, the grade you get in this class will not help you if you can't multi-task spells and strategy in a fight, and you never know when you might need that skill." The class shared looks with each other, some sceptical but most nodding in agreement. Professor Avisana smiled. "With that said; today's lesson will start on the disarming charm. Can someone tell me the incantation? Yes Jason?"

"Expelliarmus." Jason answered. A barely audible sigh came from most of the girls in the class. Jason North was a particularly gorgeous specimen and, unlike James, he appeared to be adorably unaware of it.

"Correct, five points to Ravenclaw. And what does it look like? Yes Olivia?"

"A bright scarlet jet of light."

"Again correct, five points to Gryffindor. Looks like you've all done your reading over the summer guys. Ok; wands out please." Jayna and James shared a smirk as all they had to do was pick up their wands from their desks. "The hand movement is a long line diagonally right and then a quick curved flick to the left, like so." She demonstrated with her wand, and the rest of the class copied her. "Looking good. If you could get in a line from the door to about a metre away from me."

The class scrambled to do what she asked, sharing grins with each other as they envisioned where the lesson was going. "Perfect. Now you're all going to take it in turns to try and disarm me. I will not attempt to block the spell until everyone has managed it. Anyone who catches my wand will receive ten points for their house. Got it? Ok, Isla; begin."

Isla stepped forwards with a determined grin, and aimed at Professor Avisana's hand. "Expelliarmus!" The jet of light was rose pink but it did make Professor Avisana's wand jerk out of her grip, but only to the floor by her feet.

"Great! You just need to flick your wand further to the left, while saying the incantation." She picked her wand up. "Next!"

Violet was next and, true to her name, her spell was slightly more on the purple side of things. Her spell was more forceful, but instead of disarming the teacher it made her have to take a step back. "Try not to mumble when you speak." Was Professor Avisana's only point.

By the time Malcolm, Riley, Ned, Paige, Owen and Max had gone, James had won a collective total of 55 points for Gryffindor (he was awarded an extra five for catching the wand on Paige's turn with his eyes closed, and Riley's attempt hadn't made the wand leave the Professor's hand), and every aspiring Chaser in the class was royally pissed off at him. Lee was the first person to cast the spell entirely successfully, and James got sent out for calling her a 'badass motherfucking awesome eagle' though he was awarded another ten points for his sixth catch. Jayna, Sam and Lydjah all managed the spell as well; though to be fair they had had longer to practice it.

The class ended shortly after with Professor Avisana's cries of 'read Chapter Two by Thursday' ringing behind them. James ran off quickly with Sam, hoping his head of house would forget to give him a detention (she didn't forget she just didn't want to give out a detention on the first day) leaving Jayna and Lydjah to pack up their things.

Jayna always took bloody ages to pack her bag, for reasons unbeknownst to Lydjah. She didn't carry around more stuff than everybody else, or at least not that she got out, but it took her ages anyway. Rory was speaking with the Professor about the lesson; it's not as if he had anywhere to be or anything.

"So what's your prescription?"

"Still not as large as yours." Jayna japed. "Seriously; how are you allergic to so much stuff?"

"How are you so bad at deflecting questions?" Lydjah shot back. Jayna rolled her eyes.

"More dreamless sleep potion, a check-up every two weeks, a stress ball and this bleeper thingy."

"She gave you a stress ball?!" Lydjah burst out laughing, knocking her shoulder against Jayna's. "What bleeper thingy?" Jayna reached into her pocket and held it out, just far enough away that Lydjah knew not to try and touch it. There was a small round box in her palm, with a red light on the outside.

"If I push down the top of the box it will stun me."

"Electricity doesn't work in Hogwarts."

"This isn't _electricity_ ," Jayna said the word slowly, pleased when she got it right, "it's a medical device Healer Clearwater invented." Jayna practically glowed.

"Healer who?"

"Healer Clearwater? The youngest ever and current head of St Mungos?"

"No?"

"How can you not… Anyway, she invented this box. It can hold a spell using protective enchantments… Well I've read about it but I can't really claim that I understand it yet but yeah most spells within reason. It won't hold a curse which I think is pretty neat. I mean I know there are dangerous charms but that would require more work than it's worth to use it for nefarious purposes."

"So you press the button and you get knocked out? How is that in anyway helpful?"

"It's in case I get a flashback when I'm in a crowd full of people who could get hurt by me thrashing about. I requested one."

"And she just gave it to you?"

"It has a stunning spell in it so really what harm could it do?"

"True." Finally Jayna finished packing her stuff and slung her bag onto her shoulder and they made for the door. Leaning against the wall on the outside of the classroom was Fred Weasley.

Jayna smiled politely at him, knowing he was there for her friend (weren't all attractive boys).

"Hey Lydjah."

"Hey Fred." Jayna was expecting they'd have a flirty conversation that she would have to awkwardly third-wheel through the entire way to Charms. They might even hold hands like sickening lovebirds. Thank Merlin Sam and Lee weren't disgustingly cute (it is interesting to note, dear Reader, that Jayna would one day be in one such sickeningly cute pairing and would love every second of it). She was just about to wonder if perhaps she could walk with Rory instead (had her pride really sunk that low) or if she could awkwardly run/walk to the other people in her house (that was a decided no), when Fred leaned down and began snogging the living daylights out of her friend.

Jayna was thirteen. In her opinion, thirteen-year-old relationships were relationships that existed mainly because people wanted to show off that they had a date to Hogsmeade, or just that they had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Sam and Lee were perhaps her only exception, because she thought that in their own strange way they fit well together, but even they didn't snog like they'd suddenly developed gills. No-one her age did. There was that time that Sam and Lee snogged in front of everyone at breakfast but Jayna had a sneaking suspicion that was more about trying to prove a point to James as he'd gone very red after it. Not that she'd been staring at him or anything. Just you know, glancing.

Glancing was quickly becoming Jayna's favourite word.

Fred and Lydjah's snogging though… Jayna felt a little sick. She took several steps backwards, completely unsure of what to do as Fred pressed Lydjah a little into the wall. It wasn't the heated snogging where hands start to get a little risky that she'd seen in films over the summer or anything but it was a lot more than she was used to seeing on her typical Monday morning.

The next thing she knew Fred was reeling backwards into her, Lydjah was blinking confused with her hair disarrayed and Rory was stood protectively in front of her, glaring and cradling his bloodied fist.

"What the shit?!" Fred yelled as his nose streamed scarlet liquid. At a guess, Jayna would say it was broken. Professor Avisana stuck her head out of the door of her classroom. Rory met her gaze defiantly. Let it be noted that this was probably the only time that Rory had ever been defiant in his life, which is the only reason Jayna gave him a surprised but impressed look. Later, Rory would interpret the reason behind this differently, as he was stood outside a dress shop deciding on what colour tie he should buy (he decided on green, which was rather unfortunate in the end).

"What happened?" She asked, turning her gaze to Jayna. Jayna shot Rory a confused look.

"I think Rory punched Fred? As far as I could see Fred didn't do anything…"

"Rory, do you deny it?"

"No." Professor Avisana looked up at the castle roof, questioning why she had to deal with this on the first day of school. With a quick flick of her wand she summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled a quick late note for Fred.

"Fred go to the Hospital Wing, five points off Gryffindor for foul language; Rory come inside please; twenty points off Ravenclaw for breaking Fred's nose and you'll be serving detention with me after dinner. Girls, get to your class or you'll be late."

“Yes miss." They all replied. Lydjah gave Fred a concerned look as he glared daggers at Rory. Rory looked suitably cowed.

Jayna just stared off into the distance, unbelievably done with everything.


	9. Of Difference In Upbringings and Changing Thoughts

The kitchens had always been the best place to eat. Or so James had thought, until he saw how Jayna and Scorpius treated house-elves.

"What can Popsy get you Master James?"

"'James'? Being a bit informal aren't you?" Scorpius said, with a disapproving glare. Popsy visibly wilted as she swept into a low bow. 

"Master Malfoy, Miss Blackwood." Jayna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Can we have eight portions of whatever you're serving in the Great Hall please?" Molly asked.

"Of course Miss Mo- Weasley-"

"'Please'? It's her job." Jayna interrupted, laughing.

"So if the caretaker moved something obstructing your way you wouldn't thank him, because it's his job?" Albus challenged. This caused Jayna to laugh again.

"Of course I would! He's a human, she's just a lowly house-elf."

"A 'lowly' house-elf saved my father's life more than once." James said coldly.

"I thought you said your family didn't believe in house-elves anyway." Sam said.

"No, I said my mother didn't have one. My grandma and step-grandpa had like six. Mother thought that they were dirty little sneaks. True as well." Jayna sneered. James' fists clenched.

"How dare you Blackwood! They're living thinking beings, who deserve as much respect as you do! They're only trying to help-"

"'To help'? That's a fucking lie. Where was their 'help' when my entire family was burning to death? Nowhere. They fucked off and left my family to die."

"Blackwood, I'm really sorry that those six specific house-elves didn't try to save your family, but that doesn't mean you can be a dick to every house-elf you meet! I didn't judge you based on your family, or you on yours Scorpius. You've got to learn to put prejudice aside."

“You say it like it's that fucking easy." Scorpius said bitterly. "You've never known what it's like to find out that what you've been told your entire life is actually complete bollocks."

"On that cheery note, can we eat?" Lien interrupted the growing tension, but everyone knew it wasn't really resolved as the food was carried in. With a slightly too long pause the eight of them sat down and took their plates. Jayna and Scorpius didn't look at the house-elves while James made a point of thanking them profusely.

For a minute they all dug into their food without speaking but finally Lydjah gave Jayna a cautious look over her plate of spaghetti. The others had been informed through Sam and James what Jayna had found out from her memories but nothing was properly clarified yet.

“Jayna, I’m sorry but-”

“I know. I need to explain.” She took a deep breath and each of the seven leaned in slightly. “Roland Blackwood, my grandfather, was one of the Nightwatchers and he was training me to become one of them, or at least to help them. I don’t know anything useful like statistics or how high up Roland was or anyone else who is part of it yet, except maybe my step-grandmother. Don’t quote me on that one; I’m just guessing because she was great at memory charms. Certain things trigger my memories, but obviously because I can’t remember what the triggers are, I can’t trigger them on purpose. I can guess I suppose but… I know it would help to one up them but-” James got over his anger to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she struggled, knowing she wouldn't want to admit to being terrified.

“I wouldn’t want to relive memories of torture either. No-one would.” The other six nodded in agreement and Jayna gave them a shaky smile.

“Ok yeah so I’m not going to try and force them in case it makes me go crazy.” She pulled a face but they could tell this was a genuine fear. “Anyway; he was teaching me about the Secret. Or at least he mentioned it a lot. I can’t confirm it, but I’d guess they know that it’s at the school and that would explain why they wanted to get me involved. I don’t know if it’s because I was closer to my grand- Roland or if they decided they needed to start the training process younger when they discovered the Secret but he chose me for it instead of my other siblings or my cousins. The Guardian hinted that I knew something more… I just can’t remember what I know. _They_ might know that someone’s started the tasks; they could have easily put up a ward around the doorway. The Guardian said that we were chosen for these tasks; my guess is they tried to do it before but weren’t found worthy and decided that to be worthy someone needed to be trained in all manners of magic, which is what Roland was trying to do with me. This is still all guesswork but here’s my stab in the dark; the Nightwatchers are trying to kill Cara and I because they think we might have information that could be leaked about their organisation, and they don’t know how to trigger the memories of the information without Roland. They haven’t come to complete that mission because Harry’s team has sent them all into hiding, but it looks like they’re coming back if that fire in Diagon Alley was any indication.”

“What do you think we should do?” Molly asked. Jayna shrugged helplessly.

“Lien, if you keep a look out for any dark-mark flaring up stuff we’ll know slightly in advance if they’re planning an attack on Cara. Otherwise…”

“You can’t think of anyone else who would be a Nightwatcher?” James asked.

“Why does it matter?” Jayna sighed. Sam’s eyes widened, catching on.

“You could write to them, tell them that it’s you that’s started the challenges and you’re right on track. Pretend that you think all the incidents last year were just unhappy coincidences. Say that you’ve befriended some mudbloods and-”

“Don’t use that word.” James insisted. Sam rolled her eyes.

“Anyway; that you’ve only made these friends to fit in and gain their trust. That way they’ll stop sending assassins after you and your sister and we can have some wiggle room for the Secret tasks while you work out what the Secret is even the secret to and, should any of your memories come back, if anything you were taught will be helpful.”

“I think… If there’s one person who’d be in it, it would be my great-uncle Alexis, Roland's brother. But can I risk it on that?”

“If he knows nothing about the Nightwatchers the letter will make no sense to him so what does it matter?”

“True. But if it works and they stop sending ‘assassins’ after us we won’t be able to work out who’s the spy in our school.”

“I think the stopping the ‘assassins’ is more important than finding the spy.” James said.

“Ok.”

“One thing though,” Lydjah interjected, “if you get any problems, and I mean any _at all_ with your whole remembering being tortured thing, you have to tell us, and not only because we’re the only ones you can tell. Don’t shut us out again; we might not be able to empathise, but we can sympathise and you need more people who care for you, not less.” Jayna smiled, touched by her words.

“Deal.”

“We need to work out the timetables so we can start on getting the Secret as soon as Jayna gets a reply then.”

“Yeah. We have lessons on Thursdays and Fridays where we used to do it now so they’re out.”

“And we’ve basically got your timetables from last year so we can’t do the rest of the week.”

“It’ll just have to be weekends then. Pass your timetables over.” They all handed them over to Jayna (even James who had managed to hold onto his for an entire four days) who quickly charmed them.

“Are we still on for actual tutoring Blackwood?” James asked.

“You don’t need it. Besides; Lydjah’s better at Potions than I am.”

“I’m not tutoring him.” Lydjah disagreed. “I’m not tutoring anyone.”

“Still. It’s not my best subject.”

“But it’s fun.” Sam started laughing. “What?”

“I just never thought I’d hear you arguing to spend more time with Jayna Blackwood, admit a subject was fun or ask to be tutored in something.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m not saying it’s not fun just that it’s useless.”

“Fine. Tutor me in a subject I’m bad at then.”

“What like History of Magic?”

“There is no way I would ever willingly agree to spend more time on that subject. How about we just have a tutoring session set up and you can help me with whatever comes up that week that I don’t quite get.”

“As long as it’s vice versa. I could use your help in Transfiguration.”

“Sounds good.”

“If that’s all guys I’d better get to next lesson, I wanted to ask the Professor something.”

“Of course you do.” Lydjah said with a sigh, standing up and stretching. “Lets get going then.”

“See you on Saturday.” Lien called.

 

Friday was the-

“Most important day of my life and you’re telling me to calm down!” James yelled angrily at Lydjah who raised her eyes to the heavens. They were sat in the Gryffindor changing rooms waiting for the trials to start. Sam was taking a few laps round the pitch to warm up, Jayna had gone to grab them all some hot drinks and Lydjah was wondering why the Hell they’d agreed to come and watch the bloody things. It was freezing and she had a small mountain of homework that she might not be able to get started this weekend depending on if Jayna got a reply from Alexis (or even just sent the letter) and yet how was she spending her time? Outside on the Quidditch pitch with a raging teenage boy who looked like he couldn’t decide between fainting and tearing his hair out.

“Potter, it’s Quidditch trials. Not your wedding day.”

“I know it’s Quidditch trials! That’s why it’s so important!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t ‘uh-huh’ me! It’s your fault I haven’t got Fred here with me!”

“ _I_ didn’t break his nose!”

“Yeah but Jordan only did it because he likes you.” Lydjah wrinkled her nose. “Why do you hate him so much?”

“I don’t _hate_ him, he’s just an irritating little socially-awkward idiot.”

“Harsh much.”

“Whatever.” There was a pause. “How long’s Fred going to be?”

“He said it was just a check that his nose is all in shape and everything. Shouldn’t be too long.”

“Good.”

“Fred’s not here so-” James went back to muttering.

“So you’ll only have your best friend, two other friends, one of your cousins, one of your cousin’s best friends and one of your housemates to cheer you on.”

“And my ex-girlfriend!”

“Which one?” James threw a Quaffle at her which she neatly ducked, laughing all the while. “Is she still mad at you?”

“Probably. Most girls are.”

“True.”

“Ugh. Just make sure she doesn’t sabotage my broom yeah?”

“I’ll try.”

Chloe Green, the current Gryffindor Captain and Victoire Weasley’s best friend, stuck her head inside the tent.

“You coming to try out Potter?”

“Yep.” Lydjah passed him the Quaffle from where it had fallen on the floor with an encouraging smile.

“Can’t be as hard as catching all those wands in Defence the other day.” James gave her a bizarre look, as if he couldn’t decide whether she was joking or just that stupid, and mounted his broom. As soon as he was floating off the ground he relaxed completely, nerves leaving him and confidence taking its place. He was James Sirius freaking Potter! He could do this.

 

She couldn't do this.

Jayna wouldn't in any universe ever be able to look at James Potter in Quidditch gear and not want to simultaneously harpoon herself through the face and kiss the living daylights out of him.

Coming from a girl who generally thought snogging sounded ok and anything past that kind of gross, this was a lot.

He was a jerk. He was her friend. He drove her mad. He made her laugh. He was too pretentious. She was too proud. He liked sports and people and showing off. She liked books and music and... Well she liked showing off too. He was drop dead gorgeous and he knew it. She was more interested in finishing writing a book then remembering to keep herself looking nice. He was a fighter, she was a leader. He was terrified of falling for someone, so was she. They both hated sea food. They were both loud and irritating and immature and funny and talkative and brilliant and harsh and judgemental and naïve and brave and clever and just so _good_ that the force of their light together made the stars hide and the sun pale and the world shiver in longing.

They would never work.

And Jayna was irrevocably, completely and utterly... Glancing at him whenever she got the chance. Glancing, glancing, glancing. It was stupid and that’s why she hadn’t admitted it, not to herself, not to anyone. Jayna Blackwood did not have a crush on James Potter. She didn’t do crushes. She thought some boys were cute (Jason North and Isaac Martel and… Well yes James Potter), and some boys were funny (Malcolm Sanders and Lancelot Rennoll and… Ok maybe James Potter made her laugh but only _sometimes_ ) and some boys were nice (Owen Xylander and Galvin Key but definitely not James Potter, he was one of the least nice people she knew) but for her it was all or nothing. She wasn’t interested in having a four week relationship that no-one had even realised was happening before it was over and only ended in tears. James’ longest relationship had been only a few months long (four months and 21 days but who was counting?), if you could really call hanging around each other and stealing a few closed-mouth kisses here and there a relationship.

She didn’t want to be another of his girlfriends. She would be _the_ girlfriend, or nothing. Unfortunately though, nothing was proving rather hard for her stupid heart to grasp. And her eyes! It was like she had no control over the way they kept eyeing up his tight trousers (for aerodynamics of course) and steadily-growing-in-muscle arms, and absolutely fascinating hands…

Luckily, as the try-outs were on, it wasn’t picked up on that she was only staring at one of the possible contenders. Even in her confused state she could recognise James was a bloody good Chaser. He knew all the tactics, could turn just as quickly as those who had been on the team for years and wasn’t at all put off by April Upton glaring daggers into his head.

“Alright!” Chloe finally cried as Fred finally arrived. James flew into land with Sam. Jayna was tempted to whoop. “Ok; the positions up for grabs this year are Beater, Chaser and surprisingly Keeper as Queshire decided to drop out to a reserve role because of NEWTs. As of yet, we don’t have any reserves at all for the other positions though, so if you wish to try out for those I will do them after. The reserves will not need to come to regular training; you’ll come once a month instead and obviously if we need you in the game you’ll start coming to regular practices. I may repeat; no under third-years are allowed, or anyone from a different house!” She said crossly, staring hard at a group of giggling Hufflepuff first-years who quickly hurried off, laughing between themselves as they did so. “Ok. People trying out for Keeper go with Louis, people trying out for Beater go with Fred. Louis go to the left side of the pitch and kindly displace the people who can’t actually fly properly, Fred you do the same on the right. I’ll come and help decide when I’ve found our Chaser and reserve Chasers.” The two players nodded and flew off to opposite sides of the pitch, a small gaggle of people following them with varying degrees of ability. “Ok, anyone trying out for Reserve Seeker go with April, April I’ll leave you to decide who should be your reserve, seeing as you’re the least likely to need one. Right, aspiring Chasers, come with me.”

She set off to the hoops, a Quaffle under her arm, giving James a smile when he arrived first. “If I tap you on the shoulder, it means you can leave!” Chloe yelled to her group. 

Immediately the two stragglers who’d only just arrived were tapped politely by the seventh-year. There were roughly fifteen of them left. Chloe closed her eyes for a long moment. “Take a lap round the pitch. Last three people here are getting tapped.” Thankfully the last three back seemed resigned to their fate as they reached her and left without crying. “Get in a circle around me.” They did so. “Ok, we’re going to play a game of piggy-in-the-middle. For those of you who had deprived childhoods and don’t know what that is; I will stay in the middle to start with. You will try and pass the Quaffle to each other, without me grabbing it. If I grab it, whoever the Quaffle is closest to out of the two involved in the throw is leaving, and the other is going to be in the middle. You cannot pass to the person next to you. You ready?”

‘No.’ James was thinking.

“Go!” The Quaffle was thrown at his chest and he instinctively caught it. Of course she’d throw it to him first, while she was in the middle. What a cow. He grinned.

James wasn’t exactly known for thinking things through. He charged forwards, directly towards her, Quaffle clutched in out-stretched hands. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, tilting her broom lower in order to move out of his crazy warpath, just in time to see James to a sharp upturn, and dunk the ball down from above into Owen Xylander’s hands. Or at least he would’ve, had Owen not let the ball fall through his fingers and plummet down to the ground. James had the feeling it was on purpose, as Owen looked very relieved when Chloe tapped him on the shoulder.

“You’re up Potter.” She wasn’t happy with his trick, but she had to admit to being rather impressed. He took his place in the middle.

The game continued. James did, at one point, twist around on his broom to pluck the Quaffle out of the air from underneath him as someone tried to throw it downwards. The only problem was he hadn’t quite figured out how to flip back round when his hands were full, which led to a few minutes amusement at his expense not that he minded; it was quite funny. Finally, they got down to just four people. Chloe opened her mouth to suggest another game to decide who should be on the team and who should be their reserves but Aaron Garnet raised a hand.

“I’m sorry if I’m talking for everyone here but I think we all know that Potter deserves that position. Plus, we’re all seventh-years; it makes sense that you put some ‘young blood’ on the team to continue it and all.” The other two nodded and James blushed with pride.

“Alright then. Welcome to the team Potter!” James grinned, wider than he had in a while. “For having the nobleness to say that; Aaron; you’re my reserve. Edan you can be James’, which means you, Tara, are Louis’. All good? Great. You can go now or you can watch the rest of the trials. Up to you.” James immediately zoomed over to the stands where Lydjah and Jayna were waiting.

“I made it on to the team!” He burst out excitedly.

“Well duh.” Lydjah said, looking tired. Jayna nudged her. In her defence, it had been a rather cold and boring way to spend a Friday night.

“Well done Potter!” Jayna said enthusiastically.

“Thanks.”

They all turned to watch Chloe in deep discussion with Fred, Sam and two other potential Beaters. Without warning, Sam suddenly swung her Beater’s bat at Chloe’s face. She ducked in surprise, just in time for the bat to sail over her head and smack into the Bludger above it, sending it flying towards the other end of the pitch. Below them a very sheepish April was stood next to the Quidditch supplies, evidently having accidentally released a Bludger while trying to put the Snitch back.

“Merlin’s beard!” Sam bit her lip.

“I’m sorry I just thought that you’d see my bat coming so you’d duck but I didn’t have time to warn you about the Bludger you couldn’t see-”

“No. I meant I can’t believe you managed to hit a Bludger so far! Even Fred hasn’t ever hit one like that.” Chloe praised. Fred himself was chasing after the Bludger with April’s help.

“It was probably the adrenaline. I can’t promise I could do it again.” Sam admitted.

“If you could even hit it half that hard you’d be doing well. Plus you’ve got a good eye and instincts; I like you. What’s your name?”

“Sam.”

“I swear I’ve seen you before. More than just in the common room…”

“Daily Prophet over the summer?”

“What were you- Wait; you’re Potter’s best friend right? Sami Andr-”

“Sam. It’s just Sam. Sam Andrews. But yes I am James’ best friend.”

“Well you’re a right odd pair aren’t you? Like the shoes by the way.” Sam’s black converses were hanging half off her feet in the light breeze, though she appeared not to be worried.

“Thanks.”

“You’re our Beater then. Maddox you’re Fred’s reserve, Pippa you’re Sam’s,” Pippa hadn’t looked the slightest bit surprised that Sam was also awesome at Quidditch, “and Ian if you thought for one second I’d let a dirty lying cheater on my team you must be brainless. But of course, I knew that already.” Everyone knew how Ian had tried to get Victoire drunk enough to sleep with him while he was going out with Chloe. Victoire had resisted him easily, having had many years of her Veela blood making people crazy and quickly told Chloe. The two became closer than ever and Ian was dumped faster than a hot potato.

The Keeper and reserve Seeker were chosen quickly (Jas Newport and Lauren Regenbogen respectively) and finally Lydjah could go inside and find out if her fingers had actually gotten frostbite or not (which was unlikely considering it was the first week of September).

The man with the strange expression, the spy of a sort, though he didn’t like to think that way, had been watching the trials. All those who saw him smiled and waved as they went past, for it was not strange to them that he should be there. It didn’t change the shivers that ran down Sam’s back though, nor the creepy feeling Jayna and James had that they were constantly being watched, nor the itching feeling in Lydjah’s brain that meant a vision was trying to push its way to the surface.


	10. Of Family and Letters

_Mihi avunculus, Alexi,_

_Quia non credo funus diximus. Paenitet me litteris secreto; Nolo in manibus erroneis. Quod numquam per sordes quae non habent furtiva ibo._

_Ego scribo notifico vobis occultum reperi- cicatrice orta tribulatione. Scio quod habemus in schola utile indice. Veniam certus sum manus. Im 'certus ut notanda habebunt; Coactus sum et sanguinis proditores Mudbloods coniungitur. Intellexi autem quod aegrotat core me ad Harry Potter venare super nos amici novi quod fieri totidem propinquis bene sentiret. Nesciunt nihil arcani nolite._

_Spero autem protinus te audire de licencia opus permanere._

_Cum dilectione,_

_Jayna_

“Great. What the fuck does that mean?” Lydjah asked, as Jayna gave the letter to her for inspection. Jayna rolled her eyes with a smile.

“ _Dear Uncle Alexis,_

“ _I do not believe we have spoken since the funeral. I am sorry for the secrecy in this letter; I do not want it in the wrong hands. You never know what filth will go rifling through things that are not their business._

“ _I’m writing to inform you that it is I that has started the trials to find the secret. I know we have an informer in the school which is really useful. I’m sure they’ll come in handy. As I’m sure they will have taken note; I have been forced to consort with Mudbloods and Blood-Traitors. It sickens me to my core but when I realised Harry Potter was on the hunt for us I knew that making friends with as many of his relations as possible was a good idea. They know nothing of the secret, don’t worry._

“ _I hope to hear from you soon with permission to continue my work._

“ _With love,_

“ _Jayna_.” Jayna finished. They were walking up to the Owlery to send it off.

“Oh. Think he’ll buy it?”

“He’d better; translating that into Latin took me bloody ages.” Lydjah laughed as Jayna called Rowena down.

“You heard about Lee?”

“No, what about her?” The letter was sent off and the two set off back to the castle.

“She’s the Beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.”

“Good for her. I do feel a bit embarrassed that we went to the Gryffindor trials instead of our own.”

“Whatever. Lee wouldn’t have wanted us there anyway.”

“True. What have you bought Sam for her birthday?”

“What?”

“Her birthday Lydjah. You know; that annual celebration of bursting out of your mum’s womb?”

“When is it?”

“13th.”

“Shit.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t bought her anything yet?”

“Not as such no. What do you think she’d like?”

“I’ve got her a broom.”

“You bought her a BROOM?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re really bloody expensive Jay-Jay!”

“And I’m rich so… She doesn’t have one of her own. I have too much money; it made sense.”

“You are something else Jay-Jay. She’s going to go through the roof.”

“Well I hope not that’ll damage the broom.” Lydjah burst out laughing as they wandered into the Great Hall for lunch.

At the other side of the hall, Sam Andrews was waiting for James to finish eating so they could go and have a five minute race around the pitch. She heard her name from behind her and turned just in time to see a glowering older boy speak.

“Can’t believe we have a fucking Mudblood bitch in the strongest spot on the team. We’re going to lose the cup by a mile.” James started in anger, rising from his seat with his mouth still full of chicken. Sam looked positively excited however. She stared the boy down as she slowly licked her hand… And then wiped it all over his face. “Wha- What-” He spluttered but Sam cut him off before he could continue, standing up so the whole hall could see her and pointing her finger right at his nose.

“ _You’ve got mud on your face! Big disgrace! Somebody better put you back into your place_!” Sam half-screamed, half-sang. The boy burst into tears as a good portion of the hall started laughing.

“That was lyrical genius Sam!” James exclaimed. Sam thought for a long moment. Then she remembered she’d already told the world her sister could do vanishing charms and that she had feet that glided across the floors, and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Hey Sam!” Hayden shouted from the other end of the table. Sam turned towards her.

“Yeah?”

“You’re so original!”

“Why thanks.” She responded, just as sarcastically. They both knew that Sam only learnt the lyrics from listening to her dad’s old IPod so many times, though only Sam was aware she did that when she missed him.

“Thanks for the present!” Hayden added.

“Your birthday was five days ago, and now you thank me?”

“And your birthday’s tomorrow so I’d be nice to me if I was you!”

“You’re a brat!”

“You’re a cow!”

“True.” They were both grinning. James looked sadly over at the Slytherin table, wishing he and his brother could do random stuff like this.

“Why are your birthdays so close together?” Sam wrinkled her nose.

“Dad usually has time off around New Year so…”

“Ew.”

“Anything important to your parents in January?”

“Yeah; their wedding anniversary why- Wait oh my Merlin no!” James said, looking scarred. Sam burst out laughing at his expression.

Their conversation was cut off however over the yell of; “Walt’s got a Howler from his sister!” As always, most of the conversation in the hall cut off to observe the embarrassment of the poor Gryffindor boy. With trembling fingers, Walter opened it and the letter quite literally exploded with words.

“WALTER BABCOCK HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT YOU WERE GLAD MY CAT DIED! SCREW YOU! I DON’T CARE IF BLUE PISSED ON YOUR SOCKS SOMETIMES BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHO’S ALSO DEAD? JON SNOW! THAT’S RIGHT, STABBED TO DEATH BY LOADS OF DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF THE WATCH! AND AEGON TARGARYAN IS STILL ALIVE! SO FUCK YOU!” With this the letter burst dramatically into flames leaving a horrified eyebrow-less Walter to stare at the small pile of ashes.

“What the Hell was that about?” James asked.

“Game of Thrones? It’s a book series and was a TV show, my guess is that Walter has just started it and his sister just sent him a load of spoilers.”

“Is it a good show?”

“Good? James mate, you have _no idea_. You can come and watch it at mine this summer.”

 

Lydjah frowned as Jayna walked even faster than usual to get to their table in the great hall. She flashed a quick grin at James and Sam but didn’t bother trying to find the littlies in the throngs of people.

Jayna sighed in relief as she sunk into her seat and grabbed some bread rolls. Lydjah caught her arm before she could reach for the butter. “What was that about?”

“What was what about?” Jayna inquired, her innocent act upset slightly from her out-of-breath tone. Lydjah raised her eyebrows.

“Jayna!” Jayna froze, her eyes widening in panic and locking onto Lydjah’s. From behind them, Cara was hurrying over, looking desperate enough- well; desperate enough to brave a crowd of ‘nerds and mudbloods’. She flung herself on the seat next to Jayna, looking thoroughly disgusted by everyone else around her. She shot Lydjah a scorching glare (apparently she didn’t see Lydjah’s family adopting Jayna as a help).

The two sisters had met up over the holidays frequently; up until the week before the Quidditch World Cup. When Alen and Lydjah arrived to pick Jayna up that day they found her alone, furiously tearing up the grass beneath her legs and sobbing every time a new blade of grass was broken. She refused to speak of what happened and Lydjah let it go, knowing she was keeping more than a few secrets of her own.

“Jayna I’m sorry I- I don’t have an excuse I was just angry because of what happened at the funeral-”

“ShuT UP!” Jayna screamed. However much she tried not to be Jayna was unbelievably crap at two things; staying mad at her family and Herbology. The latter was something she could deal with; it was good to be bad at something. The former however had caused her much frustration as she tended to blow up suddenly, cry a lot and then wind up forgiving them all a few moments later. It wouldn’t bother her so much if the rest of her family also suffered from this, only they seemed to be able to hold grudges for years against her. Or they had… Back when they were alive.

The area around their table went very quiet. Jayna breathed deeply, looking pointedly at her plate with so much force it was a wonder it didn’t spontaneously combust. “I don’t want to talk to you Cara.” She tried to say calmly, but her voice broke at the end.

“When will you want to talk to me?” Jayna slammed her fist into the table. Lydjah jumped at the loud noise; while Jayna frequently joked about killing anyone who annoyed her, she had never acted on any of these words; but it was clear the table had taken a hit that was meant for Cara’s face.

“Probably never!” Cara’s own temper finally flared, though, perhaps because she was a Slytherin, she never raised her voice.

“I made one stupid mistake Jayna when I was understandably pissed off, Merlin knows you’ve made hundreds-” Jayna’s eyes almost glowed with fury.

“You haven’t made _one_ stupid mistake you vapid self-absorbed _bitch_ ; every single second of your life since our house went up in flames had been another fucking mistake.”

“‘Since our house went up in flames’? Can you still not say it Jayna?” Cara taunted, her words like poison straight to Jayna’s heart. “Still can’t admit that our family was _murdered_ by the same filthy creatures you surround yourself with; and that you didn’t even love them enough to say anything at their funeral-” Jayna lunged for Cara only held back by Lydjah’s arms that had suddenly wound round her shoulders.

“Jay-Jay not here you’ll just get detention. Let’s go.” She whispered. Jayna broke free of her arms but did what she said, stalking out of the hall with a posture like the Queen’s, except for her head that was ducked to hide the tears that fell down her cheeks. She didn’t look back at her sister, not once, though if she had she would’ve seen Cara’s devastated expression, and even her attempt to stand up and follow her, which was quickly shot down by Lydjah’s angry hiss.

 

The Gryffindor common room was unusually subdued for a party, but it was James who had a small army of friends, not Sam. She preferred parties where she could speak to everyone at least once in the time she had. That being said, there was still a few colourful decorations and a small stack of presents she had yet to open by the fireside. Her guests were sat around, chatting to each other in small groups, content to just enjoy the warmth of the hearth and the butterbeers in their hands.

“Tell me what’s happened.” Jayna looked up from her butterbeer, plastering a bright smile on her face as she saw the birthday girl. She assumed Sam was over here mainly because she was so pissed off that James had charmed her hair to flash ‘I’m the birthday girl!’ every few seconds and she had no idea how to get rid of it. She neglected to mention that Lydjah and herself had helped with the Charms work.

“Sorry Sam I was just a bit out of it-”

“Bollocks. Something’s wrong and it’s killing my buzz.” She was starting to see why James and Sam knew so much about each other; there was no bullshit between them.

“I had a fight with my sister.” She tried to shrug off, too tired to come up with a believable lie.

“About?” Sam prompted.

“Family.” Usually when she said that, people knew to back off. She supposed there was a reason Sam was in Gryffindor as she ploughed on.

“How specific of you. Anything in particular?” Jayna blew out a long sigh and weighed the consequences of telling the truth.

“She intercepted my invitation to the reading of my families’ wills last summer.” She said finally.

“She stole your stuff?!” Sam exclaimed. Jayna was touched to see the Gryffindor getting ready to storm out of her own party and probably quite literally knock Cara down a few pegs.

“No. I just don’t know what ‘stuff’ I have. It’s not the actual missing the will readings I have a problem with; I’ve already sent off for a copy of them. It’s the fact that she-”

“Purposefully prevented you from going?” Jayna nodded. “Why did she do it?” Jayna coughed uncomfortably and looked at her feet.

“On the day of the funeral I was supposed to be doing a speech. But when I got up to make it… I couldn’t stand the people there, pretending they cared. I don’t know if my family had a single true friend. And now I think about it; loads of them were probably Night-Watchers. The deaths of every single person I had ever cared for was a social event for them; a chance to show off their social status and how kind they were. It made me sick. So I apparated out of there.”

“You did what?”

“I apparated. Accidental magic. Splinched myself all over the place and had to go to St Mungos.”

“Ouch.” Jayna smiled wryly in agreement. “So your sister stopped you from going to the will reading because you got, putting it simply, stage-fright?”

“I left her alone, surrounded by people she had no reason to trust, completely abandoned her.”

“You were going through a tough time.”

“So was she!” Sam grinned wickedly, and Jayna realised that she’d just made her defend her sister. Her face softened.

“Look Jayna; I can’t pretend to know what it must be like for you, having only one family member left and they’re a purist bitch most of the time, but I do know that you can’t give up on family unless there’s no other option. I think you need to have a really long talk with your sister; hash it all out. You can’t start rebuilding your relationship until you’ve moved past the things that ruined it in the first place. For now; perk the fuck up; we’ve got booze, of a sort, we’ve got good music and this threat; if you don’t smile properly we’re going to play spin the bottle and for you I’ll make it land on your ex-fiancé.”

“I severely dislike you Sam Andrews.” Jayna glared, but there was a hint of a smile curling her lips. “And calling this music good is a huge overstatement-”

“Take it back! You have to love Queen!” Jayna squealed as Sam started tickling her furiously, as she often did with Hayden. The rest of the people in the common room turned round in confusion at the shriek and the accompanying maniacal laughter.

“Stop! Stop!” Jayna yelled, her limbs flying out in all directions. It seemed to Sam that every single inch of the Ravenclaw’s skin was ticklish. James hovered over Sam’s shoulder, grinning widely.

“How can one person be so ticklish?” Sam finally relented, leaving Jayna collapsed on the sofa emitting the occasional recovering giggle, and returned James’ grin.

“I’ve just discovered Jayna Blackwood’s weakness.” Jayna’s eyes widened vaguely in alarm at the look that passed between the two troublemakers.

“I thought being your friend meant being exempt from your pranks!” She protested. James and Sam both smiled pityingly at her. “In that case consider yourselves demoted!” She joked, taking a swig from her butterbeer.

“Please Blackwood! Take me back!” James yelled dramatically, dropping to his knees in front of her. Jayna smirked.

“Not for a thousand kisses.” She replied cheekily. James pouted but Sam frowned.

“Is that a magical saying or something?”

“I thought that was a universal saying.” Jayna replied. “It means like… Never in a million years.”

“It doesn’t even reference magic and it’s a magical saying!” Sam groaned.


	11. Of the Second First Task and Replies

The eight friends sat in a careful circle in the courtyard. They hoped, with the open space, whoever had imperiused Professor Sinistra and tried to kill Cara wouldn’t be able to watch them read the letter from Jayna’s Great-Uncle Alexis.

Perhaps, as James was thinking, it would’ve been more sensible to meet up after Jayna had translated the letter as they were all sat in a rather chilly silence as she carefully worked through each line. However, as only Scorpius was aware, Jayna didn’t want to be alone with any matter that regarded her family. He only knew this because he felt the same regarding his own. Not that he was going to tell anybody if more problems arose there. Even though he wanted to, there were some things (most things) that Scorpius knew to keep to himself.

Jayna scowled at the elegant handwriting that covered the parchment. Her relative was a paranoid bastard. He hadn’t even sent it back with his own owl; holding her own owl hostage until he’d composed a reply. Every one of his words was carefully chosen apparently to piss her off as much as possible.

Finally Jayna cleared her throat. “ _Dear Jayna,_

“ _I think you are correct in this assumption. I was beginning to think you had forgotten I was still around! Once again, I extend my condolences. I see you have a clever head on your shoulders; Roland would be proud that you’ve been upholding our family values._

“ _You have no idea how relieved this makes me. We hoped but… There was no way to tell. Have you met with our informer? They assured me their identity remained a secret. I must admit I did doubt you when our informer told me of who you were consorting with, I was worried about what an influence your mother had on you, but I can see so much of my brother in you. He would’ve done the same to avoid detection. Very well played niece._

“ _You have the full permission of the Night-Watchers to continue. Keep me updated otherwise we’ll have to get the information ourselves._

“ _With love and awe,_

“ _Alexis_.”

“What a lovely chap.” James replied. Jayna smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“That’s it?” Sam asked.

“What do you mean?” Jayna inquired.

“He’s not only given us permission but actually encouraged us to completely screw him over?”

“Basically.” Lydjah agreed.

“What did he mean about your mother?” Molly asked. Jayna shrugged.

“No clue. As far as I knew she was just as Pureblood crazy as the rest of them, though I know my dad’s family disapproved of her.”

“You know he’s wrong don’t you?” Scorpius said sharply.

“About what in particular?” Jayna asked.

“You being anything like your arsehole of a grandfather. Because you’re not.” Jayna smiled at him with kind eyes.

“We do share blood you know.”

“If you share anything more than a similarity in appearance I’ll eat my broomstick.” James said firmly. Jayna started at this unfamiliar display of outright friendship but James characteristically ruined it a second later. “Though I’ve got to admit you do have the typical inbred squinty eyes.”

“Piss off.”

 

The eight of them stood in front of the old dusty door on Sunday the 16th of September with no small amount of dread. They all tried to hide it but there was no mistaking it; while they were _going_ to go in there, none of them _wanted_ to. Even Sam and James, who this time last year would’ve jumped at the chance of adventure, were beginning to learn that perhaps it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

The piece of parchment that Sam had copied down at the end of last year was still waiting for them.

_‘Congratulations on completing the final Starter test. You were wise to realise the Quintaped was a fight you could not win._

_Please choose a category to proceed:_

_Charms  
Riddles  
Choices  
Endurance  
Illusions’_.

Jayna cleared her throat. “We choose Charms.” She said, feeling slightly ridiculous for talking to the door. The words immediately disappeared, leaving them with only the blank parchment. “Erm…” She turned to face the others, who shrugged.

“I guess we just go through to the first task?” Sam asked. No-one could think of any reason why not so Albus hesitantly pushed open the door. They were greeted with a completely empty but normal sized room. The eight of them stepped inside but could find nothing even remotely remarkable about it.

After a good twenty minutes of searching they had to admit defeat and go back outside again. “I don’t understand.” Lien said quietly. Molly pulled the parchment off the door and frowned at it.

“ _Aparecium_!” The door slammed closed and the thin spidery handwriting once again filled the page.

‘ _Well done Molly. From now on, Charms and only Charms are going to be what get you through this. Not your wits, not your skills, great eyesight or appalling finding abilities; Charms. Charms are the only spells that will work beyond this door until you have completed all the tasks in this category. Your team can only use each Charm once throughout the entire category; for example; none of you will be able to use_ Aparecium _again_.

_Choose wisely._ ’

After all eight of them had finally read it they turned back to the door again, only to find it locked. “ _Alohomora_!” Sam twisted her wand and the door sprang open. They were back to being wary again, all of them remembering in horrifying quality how close they’d been to being eaten by that Quintaped last time. The same classroom greeted them again but now there was a second piece of parchment on the floor, with an empty glass wine bottle directly behind it.

_‘Change the colour of this bottle.’_

“What?” Asked Scorpius incredulously. “Last time we almost get brutally murdered by a legendary creature and James still only just makes it, and this time all it wants is for us to change this bottle a different colour?”

“Maybe the tasks start out small?” Lydjah suggested but even she sounded sceptical.

“It’s too easy.” Sam agreed. “Maybe when we change the colour something else will happen.”

“Probably.” James said. “Stay on your guard everyone. Sam change it to a happy colour would you?”

“A happy colour?” Sam laughed but did as he said, changing it to a bright sunshine yellow. “ _Colovaria_!” She immediately sprang up and joined the rest of her group’s defensive circle, wand out.

Nothing happened.

“Seriously?” Jayna finally asked. Eventually they relaxed their positions, casting confused looks around the room.

“If that’s it… Let’s get out of here.” James suggested. They edged back outside.

‘ _I’m not going to applaud you every time you complete a task but for now; congrats. You’ve completed the simplest task I could have devised._

_Instruction: Get the bottle.’_

“What the actual fuck?” Lydjah swore.

“That couldn’t have taken us more than five minutes.” Albus agreed.

“It’s probably trying to lure us into a false sense of security.” Sam reasoned.

“Are we still keeping with the ‘only do one task per session rule’?” Molly asked.

“Well yeah; no doubt later when we have to stay what feels like two days over the session we can remember the one and only time we could go back early.” Lien smiled.

“Oh that’s reminded me; because Sam and I got onto the Quidditch team we can’t do Saturday mornings anymore.” James said.

“I’m not complaining.” Scorpius remarked.

“Pass your timetables over then guys; I’ll edit them again.” Jayna replied.

 

Later that day Jayna and Lydjah were strolling up to the music rooms for their Spanish lesson. Neither of them had the heart to mention that if it wasn’t for these lessons they would probably never go into this wing of the castle. A few students were milling about, including the school band; _Hogwarts Folk_ who were practicing their latest song; _Unification of the houses_ in the third practice room. Everyone hated the school band, not excluding most members of the band, though no-one could put their finger on why. It wasn’t that they were awful players… Maybe it was because they routinely showed up and made the Great Hall so loud no-one could have a civil conversation.

That was nothing compared to the hatred of the school choir but thankfully they only turned up near the holidays. 

“Hey Professor Casales.” The girls chorused, walking into her office.

“Hi girls. I’ve got a pretty fun lesson planned for you today. I thought we’d look at some Wizarding terms in Spanish; I’ve taught you the tourist basics for surviving in Muggle Spain but should you need to talk about the Wizarding World I’m afraid I’ve left you woefully unprepared.” The two Ravenclaws sat down as she spoke, pulling their exercise books out of their bags and writing the date on the next clean page. It had been Lydjah’s suggestion to get Muggle school books for this class to keep all the vocabulary in one place.

“You’ve got your books and a quill ready? Ok so there’s no grammar today,” Jayna sighed in slight disappointment while Lydjah grinned happily, “just vocab, so keep it to the back of your books yeah? Right; Jayna, can you give me a Wizarding category?”

“A category?”

“Yes a language category I should say; something that Wizards have and Muggles don’t,” a thousand of her family’s racist jokes were running through her head, “that has specific words in it.”

“Our blood system? Pureblood, Halfblood etc.”

“Great. Perfect example. Lydjah could you hazard a guess to any of these?”

“Er... Blood is ‘sangre’ right?”

“Yes that’s correct. I’ll write these down on the board for you.” Professor Casales flicked her wand and the chalk behind her stood ready to be used. “Pureblood is ‘Sangre Pura’ in Spanish, Halfblood is ‘Sangre Mestiza’ and Muggleborn is ‘Muggle Nacido’.” She waited until they had scribbled the three new phrases down before continuing. “Ok have I missed anything?”

“Squib?” Jayna asked. “I’m assuming Muggle is ‘Muggle’ if Muggleborn is ‘Muggle Nacido’.”

“Yes it is. Squib is just ‘Squib’.”

“Oh ok.”

“Miss?”

“Yes Lydjah?”

“Does Spanish have a word for the common insult directed to Muggleborns? It’s just that I have a feeling Sam, Sam Andrews that is, a friend of ours who’s a Muggleborn, would appreciate knowing if she was being insulted even in a different language.”

“Yes they do unfortunately. I won’t say it aloud but I’ll write it down for you, as long as you promise not to write it down in your books and just learn it for your friend.” ‘Sangre Sucia’ appeared on the board behind their teacher with another flick of her wand. “I suppose I should add that ‘Traidor a sangre’ means Blood-Traitor. Lydjah, another category please.”

“Wizarding money terms?” Lydjah suggested.

“Ok.” The chalk moved to start a new column. “Knuts and Sickles are easy being spelt the same in Spanish ‘Knuts’ and ‘Sickles’. Galleons however have a slight spelling change and become ‘Galeones’. Another category? Jayna?”

Jayna, who had been staring into space, daydreaming about _glancing_ at a certain new member of the Gryffindor house team started quickly, blurting, “Quidditch!” before she registered what the question had been.

“I didn’t know you were interested in sports Jayna.”

“It’s not the sport that interests her Miss.” Lydjah snuck in. Jayna threw her quill at her friend.

“Shut up!” The music Professor smiled, her eyes twinkling.

“Oh? Someone caught your eye Jayna?” Jayna huffed.

“ _No_. I just know it’s something that is bound to come up in casual conversation seeing as it’s the only proper international Wizarding sport.”

“That’s true.” The teacher allowed. “Right well we’ll start with the equipment then? Quidditch is still ‘Quidditch’ and Bludger is ‘Bludger’ and Quaffle is ‘Quaffle’, then the Golden Snitch is ‘la Snitch dorada’ and broom is ‘escoba’. Then the players-”

“We know them Miss.”

“How?”

“We went to the Quidditch World Cup this summer.”

“Oh right. Would you like to write them down just for reference?”

“Yeah. Would you mind writing them on the board anyway? I’m not 100% sure of the spelling.” With this completed, Lydjah volunteered another category. “Magical creatures?”

“Let me think... Boggart is just ‘Boggart’... Dementor; ‘Dementor’... Goblin is ‘Duende’. That’s all the ones I can think of.”

“Magical items or things?” Jayna offered.

“Ok well... Hmm... These are going to be a bit random I suppose. Give me an example?”

“Floo Powder?”

“Polvos Flu.”

“Howler?”

“Carta vociferadora.”

“Pensieve?”

“Pensadero.”

“Sneakoscope?”

“Obscure, nice. ‘Chivatoscopio’.”

“Wand?”

“Varita.”

“Remembrall?”

“Recordadora.”

“Apparation?”

“Aparición.”

“Portkey.”

“Traslador.”

“I’m out.” Lydjah nodded her agreement.

“I think we’re about out of time anyway girls. Make sure you get something to eat yeah?”

“We will Miss don’t worry. See you next lesson!”

The spy slipped into the door as the two Ravenclaws left and pinned the music Professor with a particularly piercing stare.

“What exactly, _Mia Casales_ , are you teaching those girls?”


	12. Of Unusual Meetings (As Made Obvious By The First Sentence of This Chapter) and New Desk-Mates

The meeting was quite unusual. When you thought about a terrorist group, you didn’t imagine them sat in a well-lit room drinking weakly-made tea and gossiping in laughter-filled voices. You think of a damp dingy space with skulls on the walls and secrecy outlining every clipped word spoken.

I suppose the difference is perhaps that terrorists hardly ever believe themselves to be so. They think they are the only ones acting to keep the peace. This group does anyway.  
The head of each department of the Night-Watchers finally quietened down as Alexis drew the meeting to attention. It had not taken him long to assume his brother’s position of power. He didn’t know if he was the only person in the room who had suspicions about his brother’s cause of death but he did know he could not chance revealing them to anyone else. For all he knew, the Blackwoods’ murderer could be in this very room.

For a second, his mind flickered to his nephew’s wife. Celina Daviau. He’d learnt a lot after moving to this position of power, but he still didn’t know everything. Had Celina known her parents were part of the Sang de Bourbe cannon fodder that made up this group? What had happened to Bernadette and Eugene Daviau? Was the fact that they disappeared two months before the attack on the Blackwoods a coincidence? Had Celina known something was up, which was why she made sure her two daughters were out of the house, despite it being a huge family gathering?

Then there were the attacks on his great-nieces. He hadn’t sanctioned them, but then his power was only an illusion. All their instructions came from higher up, in the form of parchment slips that appeared in the oddest places around his house. He knew the other Heads of Department received them too, though he assumed that they weren’t all the same. Did Jayna really not suspect them? Had she thought the kidnapping in October was all just a big ruse to scare Harry Potter? Did she know who their informer was? 

The informer told them that the attack in September had been ordered by higher up, because they all knew Jayna or Cararon had information on their eventual goal; the Secret, through Roland. What if that was a lie though, and the informer had just been taking Jayna and Cararon out in order to gain their wealth? He doubted his great-nieces were aware of it but their informer, while a teacher at the school, was also their late father’s cousin, on Alexis’ sister’s side. And if that was true, was Alexis himself in danger?

Why had their informer sent one of his number into the grounds that Halloween? Was he trying to kill Jayna and Cararon again? If he hadn’t received word telling him to stop the attempts on Cararon and Jayna’s lives, why had he? And if he had received word, did their leader already know that it was Jayna who had started the trials?

He banished the questions from his mind. They weren’t important now. He couldn’t ask questions of the dead. Or of the living, as it turned out, unless he wanted to bring their mysterious leader down on all of them.

He hated having to work with Sang de Bourbes but their leader was right. They no longer had the numbers to fight on their own. Besides, conning the Sang de Bourbes into thinking that they had the upper-hand was quite fun. An unwanted thought came into his mind; what if they thought the same about him? But he got rid of it immediately; he knew where he stood on the hierarchy.

There were four of them in total. Today their meeting was being held at Justin’s house, and while Alexis’ skin had crawled with revulsion as he stepped into the thoroughly Moldu household he’d accepted the tea from Justin’s snivelling wife with a hint of a smile. Justin Finch-Fletchley was an easy person to peg; too stupid to go into politics, suffering from PTSD after the Second Wizarding War which led to paranoia when he managed to produce offspring over whether his son would survive with all the ‘nasty-scary-Sang-Purs’ running around. His solution? Become little more than the leader of the cannon-fodder for the most dangerous organisation around today. It was Justin’s department that had had to flee for the main part of the past year to hide from Harry Potter’s team of Aurors, but there had been work to do in the meantime for the rest of them. Justin’s department had the largest portion of their numbers, for obvious reasons.

It was simple really. The Sang-Purs were in the positions that required actual thought, and the Sang de Bourbes simply did what they were told. In order to avoid argument though, there were four heads of department, two of each side of the Nightwatchers. Genius. Alexis had a lot to owe to their leader.

He didn’t bother with pleasantries; they all knew why he’d called this potentially risky meeting. He had news. “We are ze Nightwatchers,” he began, “We are far and zey are few. We will ‘ave our vengenance.” The others joined his pledge as he finished and stood up to share his knowledge. “Jayna, my great-niece,” He put slight emphasis on their relationship, staring at their spy as he did so, to make sure they were aware that should any harm come to the girl it would be Alexis as well as their leader that he was answering to, “‘as informed me zat it’s ‘er zat ‘as started the trials to ze Secret. Apparently Roland left ‘er wiz enough information to find its location and begin ze trials.”

“Can we trust this?” Harper Peters spoke up. Alexis swallowed the swift insult that rose to his lips at the sight of the smarmy Sang de Bourbe Auror who’d betrayed his team in order to become a Nightwatcher. Alexis didn’t trust him at all, not that he trusted anyone except his wife. His motivations for becoming a Nightwatcher were questionable at least; Alexis had a feeling that their leader only let him in because they needed a mole in the Auror department. Harper freely admitted that he liked his boss, Harry Potter, but that he knew in order to break the people’s faith in the so called ‘utopia’ the Boy Who Lived had created, the Chosen One needed to be killed.

Alexis’ own motivations were much more pure; he wanted to save the world from the filth that had overrun it, and keep the old ways sacred. None of this technology rubbish. He’d been brought into this by his brother years ago, and had not been surprised when Roland ended up getting the top position over him. Roland was smarter than him; it was something he had accepted years before. Or perhaps he wasn’t considering he was dead. Roland had tried to bring his sister’s husband in too but he’d refused. Unfortunately, the now-head-informer had overheard this conversation, and requested to join as soon as he was old enough. He joined the year Alexis and Roland moved their families to England, and his sister had refused to speak to him since.

“Jayna ‘as no reason to lie to me.”

“Unless the Potter boy and those other friends of hers have corrupted her.” He retorted. Alexis bit back a curse. Had their informer told everyone in the Nightwatchers that Jayna had had to make some questionable choices in order to do her job?

“Part of Roland’s plan was to ‘ave ‘er become friends with some Sang- Traîtres.” At their looks of confusion he snarled slightly. “Blood-Traitors! Alors! Vous êtes betes comme vos pieds!” He didn’t try to explain himself again as they seemed to realise they had been insulted.

“Fine. So we trust your niece and continue as usual?”

“Zere are many zings to do before we can claim ze Secret.” Alexis allowed. The others didn’t look happy, but the Secret wasn’t their concern. Harper Peters was in charge of gathering information, Justin in charge of carrying out their plans, their informer in charge of gathering new recruits and Alexis in charge of actually planning their attacks, all according to their leader.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back before I’m missed.” Caden Rossesson, their informer, stood and with a quick inclination of his head, left to resume his position as Charms Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

The third-years, as was their habit now, met up in the courtyard for lunch. After they had discovered the kitchens there was no reason to eat in the Great Hall for the non-mandatory meal, where they couldn’t sit together.

There was, Jayna mused, always going to be a line between them and the younger four. It wasn’t purposeful, but they all spent more time, through lessons, with their year groups. Besides, with the exception of Scorpius and James, though for opposite reasons, she thought that the four of them were also tied together through the generally bad lot they’d so far been dealt in life. There was something about Lydjah’s past that the Ravenclaw had been hiding from her and she had suspected it for a while now. Jayna wanted to give her space though. She recognised a secret worth keeping when she saw one, even though she’d never really kept a secret of her own, at least not on purpose. What information was locked away in her hidden memories would come in its own sweet time.

Hopefully.

Sam was the last person to arrive. According to James she’d gone to have a shower. She quickly joined them, hair still dripping wet and dug eagerly into the sandwich that Lydjah had had prepared for her. Jayna wondered whether she should warn the Gryffindor that Lydjah had got another of her infamous colds-that-always-develop-into-a-chest-infection-because-she’s-Lydjah-Merlin-Damn-It-Dawson, but Sam took it before she could. After swallowing the first mouthful she spoke. “I wanted to try out the broom before I thanked you for it, at James’ insistence.”

“I knew that she’d end up insisting on giving it back if she didn’t fall in love with it first.” Sam glared at him.

“I have not _fallen in love with it_ ,” She said scathingly. At Jayna’s slightly disappointed look she rushed on, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely amazing in every way.” She gave Jayna a quick appraising look and then punched her lightly on the shoulder. “So even though you shouldn’t have bought it and just looking at it makes me feel guilty, thank you. Really.” Jayna smiled, rubbing her shoulder with a grin.

“No problem. And I absolutely should have bought it. I’m really, totally loaded you know.” They all laughed for a few moments before Jayna’s eyes lit up. “Please tell me you didn’t miss double History of Magic to test out Sam’s new broom.” The opposite twins grinned wickedly at her.

“We didn’t mean to miss both lessons-” Sam began.

“In fact, we went out early this morning but-” James continued.

“Then we decided it might be more fun to do some more exploring-”

“You know, for intellectual purposes-”

“And we ended up rather lost in the Forbidden Forest-” The two Ravenclaws groaned.

“And it took us-”

“Rather a long time-”

“In which we may-”

“Or may not-”

“Have easily found our way out of the forest-”

“And decided that History of Magic was boring as shit-”

“And so spent the next hour and a half swimming in the lake.” James concluded. Jayna and Lydjah shared an amused, if exasperated, look.

“Sometimes I feel more like your babysitter than your friend.” Jayna said. James pouted.

“Are you not even going to ask us if we found anything?” Jayna raised an eyebrow, clearly stating that he’d have to fly on his broom to the moon and back before she’d ask. James smiled at her.

Jayna didn’t have time to move away from the tell-tale glint of mischief in his eyes before she was pounced on, slightly calloused hands tickling every inch of her that they could reach. She shrieked at him, curling into a ball of giggles, desperately swatting at his hands as the air was sucked from her lungs and laughs replaced it. “Potter!” She yelled. “Stop! Potter! Stop!”

“Ask me if we found anything.” He panted, winded from dodging her uncharacteristically well-aimed kicks and shoves.

“No!” She yelled back defiantly. Seconds later, when his hands finally found the backs of her knees she was relenting in an instant. “STOP! I’ll ask you!” She screeched. Sam and Lydjah were laughing almost as hard as their tall friend. James backed off. She glared at him as her giggles subsided. “Not that I give a shit, but did you and Andrews find anything in the forest?” James shook his head, like he was disappointed in her.

“As a matter of fact we did Blackwood.”

“Oh?” Lydjah asked. Sam pulled a face.

“It’s not anything that great. Just a weird looking pebble.” James tutted at her and brought it out of his pocket, handing it to the glaring Ravenclaw. Despite herself, she turned it over in interest, examining how it caught the light in different angles. When she looked up, she could hardly see her friends anymore. Surrounding her, smiling down at her with tears in their eyes, were the ghostly figures of each member of the family she had lost.

She froze, absolute terror shattering her to her core. The nightmares were bad enough; now she was having hallucinations?

“Jayney, you’ve grown up so much…” Her father whispered. Devin stood next to him, smiling at her like he didn’t quite understand what had happened but that he’d missed his sisters.

Her father looked different from how she’d last saw him; younger, less tense. She looked around for any of her grandparents but didn’t see them, and she felt a little sick. Somehow she knew it was because she didn’t miss them. Which made her an awful person. Oceane, her cousin reached a hand out to her, to wipe the tear that had slowly fallen down her face but her fingers passed through Jayna’s cheek. Oceane had always looked up to her, revered her as her brothers hadn’t, because of the bigger age gap. She should be in Hogwarts, should be laughing with Jayna and making new friends.

“It’s ok.” Oceane whispered. Jayna dropped the pebble with a sob. Instantly the ghosts vanished. Her friends stared at her in shock. Jayna felt bile rising in her throat.

“Put that- that _thing_ back where you found it.” She spat, abandoning her lunch and running from the courtyard, the confused calls of her friends bouncing off her like her skin was a shield.

It wasn’t. Inside, she was cracking.

 

By the time lunch was over, Jayna had calmed down, but she was still relieved to have a lesson without any of her friends. Not unusually, Lydjah had skipped class due to her current cold and it was with guilty thankfulness that Jayna announced to Professor Elswood that she was stuck in her bed. Jayna did not know whether she was stuck in bed at all, as she hadn’t been to Ravenclaw tower since her embarrassing escape from her hallucinogenic sandwich, but given that the other girl hadn’t turned up, despite her friend’s disappearing act, she assumed that was the case.

Magical theory, despite not having any practical work in it at all, was quickly becoming one of Jayna’s favourite lessons. Behind Defence Against the Dark Arts of course. And Charms. And Arithmancy and Potions and Spanish. But before Muggle Studies and Transfiguration and Study of Ancient Runes and History of Magic and Astronomy. And miles before Horrbology (she was quite proud of that one). It was everything that she’d wanted History of Magic to teach her; not about the wars and struggles and scientific discoveries that Wizards had made but about the _why_. Why the five exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration existed. Why flicking to the left didn’t work when flicking to the right did with certain spells, and vice versa with others. Plus she could show off a lot when they studied wand woods, as it had been a hobby of hers in years past to understand what they all meant.

All of her new options subjects were brilliant; she only wished that she could take even more. Trying to decide what to do for NEWTs was going to do her head in, especially as there were only more options at that point.

Isla Odell plonked herself down in Lydjah’s usual seat, smiling nervously at the vaguely spaced out Ravenclaw. “Jayna? Can I sit here for today? I- er-”

“You broke up with- erm- thingy what’s his name?”

“Isaac.” Isla said, with a slightly sad smile.

“Of course you can. Though had you not broken up with him my answer would have been the same.” Isla’s smile grew. “Why did you break up with him though? From what Sam says, the other Gryffindor girls have him high up on their ‘obsess over’ list.” Jayna asked, strangely curious. Perhaps because Isla could see the genuine curiosity in her eyes, despite the potential insult, she found herself answering her question.

“Isaac is gorgeous sure. And he’s nice enough too I suppose, and it’s not even that he’s stupid, or he has bad friends or anything. I just couldn’t see it clicking with him. I was with him for what, five months? And not a single stirring of feelings flickered up. I didn’t think it was fair to him or myself to continue as if there was ever going to be.”

“How did you know that you didn’t click? Is there some kind of sign?” Jayna continued to get her book out of her bag as she spoke, mostly concentrating on convincing herself that she was only asking from curiosity. Isla laughed.

“Sounds like you’ve already found a person you click with.” Jayna couldn’t help but smile; there was something infectious about Isla’s laugh.

“Try convincing him of that.” Jayna sighed. Isla grinned.

“He’ll come round eventually. They always do.”

“Sure, if you look like a model.” Jayna said with a raised eyebrow, gesturing at her. Isla was very tall, very slim, with smooth dark skin and a small waterfall of curly black hair. She knew how to use a mascara brush, unlike Jayna, and could make even the uniform look wonderful on her perfect figure. Isla blushed prettily, swatting at Jayna’s arm.

“Says you, Miss Cheekbones.” Jayna snorted, and both the girls collapsed into giggles. “Besides, most girls would kill to be close friends with James and Albus Potter, let alone Scorpius Malfoy.” Jayna rolled her eyes.

“They’re not that great, honestly.” Isla laughed.

“I must admit, while James is ridiculously attractive, I’ve never completely fell head over heels into obsession over him. He’s a bit too cocky for me.”

“Odell, you do realise you have only dated cocky blokes right?” Isla spluttered. “I bet you’ve already found someone you click with too. You just don’t want to admit it yet. I’ll get it out of you eventually.” Jayna smirked. Isla blushed, only confirming Jayna’s suspicions. She had the feeling that whoever it was that Isla liked, they weren’t the type that her friends would typically approve of. Just then, Professor Elswood walked in. As the door opened and slammed into the side of the desk across from Jayna and Isla’s, Laura Hackett’s ink pot smashed to the floor, spilling ink all over Jayna’s bag. “Fucking Merlin!” Jayna whisper-shouted under her breath. The Professor apologised hurriedly, siphoning the ink with his wand and then transferring it back somehow into Laura’s newly repaired ink pot. Isla chortled quietly, the effort of keeping back laughter causing tears to run down her cheeks.

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth Blackwood?” Jayna flinched, staring at Isla with a hurt look. “What did I say?” Jayna’s expression cleared slightly.

“Are you a Muggleborn?” Isla frowned, looking confused.

“No, Halfblood. But I live with just my Muggle father.”

“Oh.” Jayna cleared her throat as Professor Elswood reached the front of the room.

“Sorry for the interruption class. I love how even though it’s just the five of us; I’m assuming, Miss Blackwood, that Miss Dawson is ill?” Jayna nodded. “That only one of you wishes to sit where you can see the board. It’s too much work to move now but next lesson I hope you would all be slightly closer. Now today will be-”

“Just a theory lesson.” The class chorused, giving him half amused, half exasperated smiles that he continued to use the same pun every lesson.

“Correct. I would like you to read the passage on page 74 and then explain an example where this law applies to your partner.” A quick silent plea to Laura sent her packing off to sit near Isaac.

“Why does it matter who I live with?” Isla asked, sounding only more confused. Jayna shrugged.

“I- er.” Jayna coughed and turned to the right page in their books. “My mother perished with the rest of my family in an accident a year ago. I know it’s stupid but mentions of her usually catch me off guard. I assumed you didn’t know because you are out of contact with the magical world over the summer.”

“Oh Jayna. I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s completely fine.” Jayna said, with a partially convincing smile. “You weren’t to know.”

“What was she like?”

“Sorry?” In all the time since it had happened, people had offered their condolences, their… Whatever the opposite of condolences was when they told you having your family dead in the ground was a benefit, their own heartbreaks, their silent support, even their blunt honesty. But no-one had asked her what her family had been _like_.

“Your mother, what was she like?” Jayna smiled, reading the passage with eyes that were only slightly tear-blurred.

“She was clever. Merlin, she was so, so clever. I mean, I’m top in a lot of my classes but she was _insanely_ intelligent. And strong. Ridiculously strong and fiercely loyal. She drove me up the wall sometimes; I thought I’d have to become Minister for Magic before she was proud of me. I was wrong though; she just didn’t say it a lot. She loved us kids… Loved us more than I think she knew what to do with. It must be hard having that much love but so rational a brain.”

“You had siblings?” Isla asked gently.

“Still got one. My older sister, Cara, she’s still alive and fuming in the Slytherin common room somewhere. But my brothers… They’re gone, like everyone else.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” Jayna paused. “It’s ok though.” Her thoughts drifted back to that stone, and the memory of her cousin’s voice. “It’s ok.”


	13. Of New Friends and Continuing

_29 years ago_

_Celina Daviau was eighteen years old, hopelessly in love and completely, utterly screwed. Every day she wondered at her luck, though it varied on whether she thought it was good or bad. On the one hand; Devin Luca Blackwood III was gorgeous, funny, kind and so in love with her that she often wondered if he was going to injure himself with how huge his heart must be. It scared her a little bit, that love, but it was also the one thing stopping her from crying in frustration; because, on the other hand, Devin Luca Blackwood III’s parents made her want to throw herself off a cliff; he was from a family of extremely prejudiced Purebloods and her parents were active protestors for Muggleborn rights. The Blackwoods were exactly the sort of family that her parents hated, and she knew she could never convince her parents that Luca was different._

_“C?” Her head snapped up, and she hurried over to her window, forcing it open with shaking fingers._

_“Luca? What are you doing here?” She hissed in French. “My parents are downstairs!”_

_“Christophe told my father.” He replied in the same language. She swore she felt her heart stop. Oh Merlin. This was it. The end of everything she had been hoping for. He had to break up with her now. “I can't live without you, C. I love you.” Celina gasped, her hand flying to her chest._

_“Luca-”_

_“I love you, C. I know this is crazy and I know we're only eighteen but I need you and I don't care what my father says. Will you marry me?” Tears welled up in Celina’s eyes. He was right. It was crazy. She’d had her whole life sorted out before he came along. But they’d make it work. She had a job lined up in International Law at the Ministry of Magic and maybe with his father out of the picture Luca wouldn’t be as afraid to do what he wanted._

_She’d never been good at big displays of emotion though. “Of course. But I'm keeping my name.” Luca burst out laughing, his own unshed tears glittering._

_“Celina? Who is that?” Celina sent a panicky look at her new fiancé as her mother, Bernadette, appeared in the doorway. Before she could reply, there was a rap on the front door downstairs. Celina’s eyes widened; surely he wasn’t that crazy? She flew down the stairs, brushing past her mother, just in time to see her father, Eugene, open the door to Roland Blackwood. Behind him stood an equally confused looking Luca._

_“You must be Celina.” Roland said, with a polite smile. “And Mr and Mrs Daviau?” Her mother came down the stairs in time for this proclamation._

_“I don't believe we've met.” Her father replied, carefully._

_“Unfortunately no. I'm Roland Blackwood. And I believe my son has just successfully proposed to your daughter." It was chaos after that. Her parents demanded an explanation; she explained that they’d been going out for two years now, since the start of their sixth year at Beauxbatons, which was met with a loud roar of disapproval. Luca stepped to her defence, saying that considering their family differences, they had been worried that no-one would be accepting of the relationship._

_Her mother started to dither, saying that it was wrong that she hadn’t told them, but her father cut across and looked her directly in the eye. Then he’d asked her to do the one thing she’d never thought he would have._

_“It's your choice Celina. Him, or us.”_

_“What?” Luca looked as shocked as she did. Eugene just stared her down. Tears were falling thick and fast now. “Papa, don't do this!”_

_“Choose Celina.” She glared at him, and held her chin higher._

_“I love him, papa. And I thought I loved you.” She’d grabbed Luca’s hand, gripped him as the world fell out from under her feet, and her father had slammed the door in her face._

_It took until April 2017 for her to find out that Roland had Imperiused him that night, and confunded her mother so that she wouldn’t stop him. By then, it was too late._

 

Isla was slightly very worried about Jayna Blackwood. There was something about that group of eight that always seemed busy, even when they were just lounging around talking to each other. Isla, therefore, was worried because Jayna clearly still had a way to go before she was past the grieving process, even though it had been a good while since her family had died, and she wasn’t getting any help from her friends, probably because of this business. Granted, Isla had only found out about her family a day ago, but her father had always said she was unusually perceptive; and very nosy.

Lydjah did not turn up for their next Magical Theory lesson either and Jayna did not seem surprised when Isla slid into the same seat again. They completed the work mostly in silence, and thus finished with a good quarter of the class to go.

“Fancy playing questions?” Isla suggested.

“What’s that?”

“You basically just take it in turn to ask each other questions. It’s like a get-to-know you exercise but you can make the questions whatever you want.”

“Sure.” Jayna shrugged, putting her quill down and facing Isla more fully. “Are you happy with the house you were sorted into?” Isla grinned.

“Yeah. I mean we’re all idiots sometimes and I’m glad we’re not completely separated from the other houses because all that testosterone would drive me insane but I fit in. I’m friends with my dorm-mates as well which is always a plus. I just feel sorry for you; stuck in a room with Riley Skeeter.” Isla made a face and Jayna laughed.

“I have to admire her unwavering ability to be an asshole even in the most desperate of times.”

“She was the one that spread all that shit about you last year, with the Muggleborn thing.” Jayna’s face darkened.

“Yeah.”

“Did you ever find out who did that?”

“No.”

“Well at least there’s been nothing since then.” Jayna smiled, slightly grimly.

“Yeah.”

“My question then; are you ok?” Jayna frowned slightly confusedly at her.

“Yeah? I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” She rubbed her nose as she answered, cocking her head in confusion. Isla brought a small bottle out of her pocket and waved it at Jayna.

“Care to take a swig of this and answer that again?”

“Erm I don’t think you’re supposed to drink Sleazky’s hair potion Isla.” Isla rolled her eyes.

“I know I’m no Ravenclaw but I’m not actually that dumb. That’s just the cover; inside is Veritaserum.”

“Where the Hell did you get that?”

“Where do you think? I nicked it from the hot new Potions teacher.”

“Why?!”

“Five reasons; 1) Who doesn’t want Veritaserum? It’s really useful, 2) I was worried about you, 3) I wanted to test Mr Hot Potion Man’s security for future reference 4) It was a win-win situation because if I pulled it off I had some Veritaserum and if I got caught then I’d have a detention with Mr Hot Potion Man and 5) I was really bored because Liv and Vi were off with their new boyfriends.”

“Oh? Who are they going out with?”

“Vi’s going out with Lance and Liv’s with Malcolm.” Jayna made a surprised face. “Yeah I know, I know he’s not her usual type. She’s doing it more out of a favour to me actually.”

“How is that a favour to you?” Isla blushed and refused to answer.

“Nevermind that; drink the potion and answer my question again.” Jayna sighed.

“I’m not having you waste Veritaserum on me. So the truth is no I’m not great.”

“Why?”

“I’m terrified all the time that anything is going to set me off into another fit like the one in the Great Hall on the first day. We- that is the eight of us- are doing an… Extracurricular project that’s making me really tired, but I can’t get to sleep. Most of my family’s dead and yet I still can’t let them go, and the remaining are all horrendous racists. I’m not speaking to my sister, I don’t know what to buy Potter for his birthday, or Lydjah for that matter, I’m rubbish at Herbology and my Transfiguration grades aren’t great, Lydjah’s hiding something from me, I’m worried about Lee, I’m in the middle of a really bad writer’s block and all my clothes smell like Lydjah’s dog.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Sorry. Guess I really needed to let that all out.”

“Let’s work through the problems one at a time yeah? So the fit thing, ok, I can’t do anything about that except to tell you that perhaps explaining to everyone why you have fits will stop everyone whispering about it? The extra-curricular project? I’m guessing it’s top secret?” Jayna smirked, even going as far to let out a small laugh.

“You have no idea.”

“Ok then well have you tried sleeping tablets?”

“What are they?”

“They’re of Muggle origin; they call them drugs. They make you really sleepy so you can get to sleep easily. They’re sort of a minor version of Dreamless sleep potion; they might take away some of your dreams but less than Dreamless sleep potion does. Who do you live with now?”

“Lydjah’s family.”

“And does she have a Muggle relative?”

“Yeah, her mum’s a Muggle.”

“Ask her to send you some in the post then. Why can’t you let your family go?”

“There are… Complications surrounding their deaths that I’m not ready to face yet.”

“Well, if you become ready to face them, I’ll help you with it if you would like. I know it’s on a much, much smaller scale but my mum left me too, except she left by choice.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, it was years ago now. The horrendous racists? Who gives a shit about them? You have a huge group of friends and a great relationship with all your teachers; you don’t need them. Your sister… She’s obviously going through the same issues as you. Maybe you need to come to grips with your family passing yourselves before you can try and rebuild that relationship. James is easy to buy for; Quidditch, Transfiguration books and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.” Jayna raised her eyebrows. “I’m friends with most of his exes.” Isla explained. “Lydjah I don’t know as well, but you do, so find something that’s special to you guys. I know I’m in danger of being stereotypical but you have two Hufflepuff friends. Get them to help you in Herbology. And if you don’t want to ask for something without giving something back buy them some chocolate or ask if they want help with something else. As for Transfiguration erm hello? James Potter ringing any bells? Best in our year group at Transfiguration? Lydjah seems like a pretty private person, just let her come out with it in time, same with Lee. Take a break from writing and try something new. It might just inspire you. Put a note on your wardrobe asking the House Elves to wash all your clothes. I guarantee they’ll be all fine by the morning.”

It was Jayna’s turn to be wowed.

“Remind me why we weren’t friends before this year?” Jayna asked. Isla burst out laughing.

“I was much too busy trying to fit in instead of being myself. Much as Sally and Josie are great people, I don’t actually have that much in common with them. We isolated Sam a bit, I wish I could take that back.”

“She isolates herself as much as everyone else isolates her. Beat her in a fight and she’ll be your friend though I’d suggest magical because she’s bloody good at fistfights.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to take it back that much.” Jayna laughed. Professor Elswood dismissed the class a few minutes early seeing as everyone had finished the work.

“Thank you Isla.” Jayna said eventually, as they packed their bags. Isla beamed.

“No problem.”

 

The next day found the eight of them stood outside the door again, wondering if it was going to be quite as easy as the last one.

_‘I’m not going to applaud you every time you complete a task but for now; congrats. You’ve completed the simplest task I could have devised._

_Instruction: Get the bottle.’_

The parchment still said. James looked at the rest of them and shrugged. They shrugged back and he pushed open the door. The yellow bottle from last time sat atop a shelf at the end of the room.

“ _Accio_!” Lien said.

“Wait-” Clamoured seven voices but it was too late; the spell had been cast and the bottle was in Lien’s waiting hand.

“What?” She asked.

“Nice catch.” James replied. “You haven’t thought about Quidditch have you?” Everyone ignored him.

“It’s fine Lien it’s just we could have reached that bottle just by walking. Now we can’t use _Accio_ again.” Lydjah sighed.

“Oh.” She replied. “Sorry.”

“Speaking of, how do you know how to do _Accio_?” Jayna asked curiously. It wasn’t a spell she had yet mastered, let alone a year-younger Hufflepuff.

“We knew what the category was going to be after Roxanne’s party so I looked up some Charms that I thought sounded useful.” Jayna raised her eyebrows, impressed. She’d spent the rest of the summer doing sod-all if she was honest.

“Let’s all agree that if we have time we should work on the task together next time, before we act.” Albus said, smiling at Lien so that she’d know he wasn’t telling her off.

The next day’s task was simple enough again; they had to fill a cup with water, which then started to drain out after James used _Aguamenti_ so Lien cast the water-refilling charm on the cup, and the task was completed.

The next weekend Jayna suggested studying in the library, to come up with a good list of spells for them to use. Lots of spells had similar uses, like how _Alohomora_ opens locks, whereas _Cistem Aperio_ only opens trunks, so that, when they had time, they could make sure they left as many spells for themselves as possible. Sam and James protested joining in this work, and thus the Charms they found were mostly to do with blowing things up. No-one could really get exasperated with them; after all, they didn’t know what was going to be useful.

Before they knew it, September yellow was fading into the burnt orange of October and James Potter was waking up to his usual small mountain of presents.

“What the fuck dude?” Was the first thing James heard that year on his birthday. He frowned, opening his eyes and scrabbling around for his glasses.

“What?” He croaked, voice still heavy with sleep. Max was staring at the bottom of his bed, where presents were literally spilling onto the floor around his bed. He grinned, half torn between embarrassment and happiness and sat up.

“‘appy Birthday James.” Owen said sleepily, chucking a present at him. James froze, realising he didn’t know when Owen’s birthday was but that he was going to have to find out and add it to his remembrall as soon as possible. This was followed by another three cries of Happy Birthday by the rest of his dormmates, and another two presents aimed at his head, both of which James still managed to catch. Max, realising he was the only one who hadn’t got James something, awkwardly turned over and went back to sleep.

He opened Owen’s present first, his eyes widening as he found a copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ , signed by Carola and Eleonora Xylander. “Oh my Merlin, thanks Owen! This is bloody great!” Owen rolled his eyes.

“I don’t understand why you’re so crazy about that sport but whatever.” James grinned at him, even as he opened Ned’s present. A box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans fell out onto his lap.

“I didn’t even eat all the good ones this time.” James laughed, pulling open Quinn’s present; a new broom polish.

“Thanks guys.” They all went back to snoozing as James turned to his huge pile of presents.

Along with all of the accompanying cards, James received; a box of blood pops (from Albus, with a smiley face stuck to the outside that told James his brother knew exactly what had happened last Christmas), a bubble machine (from Lily), six tubs of Sleekeazy’s hair potion (from Lydjah), a Headless Hat (from Roxanne; ‘maybe you’ll forget how to take if off’), a boxing telescope (from Sam; ‘so it can punch you when I can’t’, she’d kindly not bought the accompanying bruise paste), a ‘Magical Moustache Miracle Stubble Grow’ (from Fred; ‘for the ladies eh’), several Extendable Ears (from Scorpius… He didn’t quite know what the Slytherin was trying to say with this, which was probably why Scorpius had bought it), a nose-biting teacup (from Uncle George; ‘now you’re getting older and more sophisticated’), an identical pair of glasses to his own; except apparently warded with a permanent Impervius charm (from Lien), a portable swamp (from his mum), a comb-a-chameleon (from Molly; ‘hey, it worked for me’), a moleskin pouch (from Hagrid), sixteen smart answer quills (‘maybe you’ll finally come up with something smart with these), a new set of Chaser gloves, _Asiatic Anti-Venoms_ (‘look it even has pop-up pictures so you don’t have to pretend you can read’), _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration_ (‘Everyone knows you love Transfiguration stop pretending’) and a new cauldron (all from Jayna; ‘you’re going to need the best for the Potions we’ll be making; once I’ve got Lydjah to seduce Professor Alfredson into letting us use his classroom obviously (don’t tell Fred)’), _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland, Wanderings of a Tree in the Alps_ and some polos (from Auntie Hermione), a magical penknife (from his dad), fourteen dungbombs (from Uncle Ron; they’d decided between the two of them that he’d just buy him as many dungbombs as his age decreed because Ron was rubbish at buying presents), a box of chocolate frogs (from Hugo), a Holyhead Harpies hat (from Rose), a book, signed by the Appleby Arrows team, that showed the next years events in terms of the British National Quidditch league, and all the current statistics for them (from Auntie Angelina), a Holyhead Harpies scarf (from Uncle Percy), _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep, Winogrand’s Wondrous Water Plants_ and _Lizard’s Claws from Africa_ (from Auntie Audrey), a small jewellery box filled with brightly coloured sweet-wrappers (from Lucy), _Loony Nonby vs Cornish Pixie_ and _The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle_ (from Teddy), _Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide To Their Language and Customs, The Book of Charms and Spells_ and _Most Macabre Monstrosities_ (from Uncle Bill), _Sonnets of a Sorcerer_ (from Luna and Rolf; ‘I thought you should have this; considering your mother’s bad luck, though I thought her poem was lovely’; he would have to ask his mother what on earth Luna was on about), _Dragon breeding for Pleasure and Profit, From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper’s Guide_ and _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_ (from Uncle Charlie), _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much, Charms of Defence and Deterrence_ and _Cheering Charms_ (from Louis), _The Enclopedia of Bat Eyes, Extreme Incantations_ and _Newts of Bognor_ (from Dean), _How to Tame Tigers_ (‘Not that I am suggesting you attempt this’), _Abracadabra: An A-Z of Spooky Spells_ and _A Children’s Anthology of Monsters_ (from Victoire), _Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed_ and _Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology_ (from Auntie Fleur), _Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires, A Vampire’s Monologue_ and _A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions_ (from Dominque), _Curses and Counter-Curses_ and _Encyclopedia of Toadstools_ (from Neville and Hannah), _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World, Sub-Aquatic Botanical Mysteries, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean_ and _Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs_ (from Lorcan and Lysander), a broom compass, _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_ and _The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts_ (from Minerva), _Quaint Muggle Machinery, Muggles who Notice_ and _Cooking the Muggle Way_ (from Grandpa), a whole basket full of homemade treats (from Grandma) and _Owl Breeds, Which Owl?_ and _You and Your Owl_ (from Irene).

“Bit book heavy for you isn’t it?” Quinn remarked, as they all sat on his bed, munching through the treats. Sam had come in about halfway through his present-opening and sat on his bed like she belonged there, which, he supposed, she did. James shrugged. Really he couldn’t wait to get started. Not only did the books boost his academic success, but he’d always found non-fiction books interesting. Fiction books were great and all, but it was so much better when you read about something you could actually do, or something that had actually happened. The real-life stories always strengthened his sense of adventure, and the facts and instructions just inspired him to create them.

Sam gave him a knowing look. He told her to shut up. She squeezed his new boxing present in his direction.

 

“Happy Birthday- Potter, what the Hell happened to your eye?!” Jayna exclaimed, as he came and sat next to her in Muggle Studies. He huffed, sulking, and refused to answer. “Did you like your presents?” She said, dropping it. This brought a reluctant smile to his face.

“You won’t believe it, but I actually got way over thirty books.”

“Seriously? Have you read any of them yet?” He grinned.

“I’ve started _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration_ in-between classes, thank you by the way, and I read _You and Your Owl_ just because the title made me laugh.”

“Who bought you that?”

“Irene.”

“Who’s Irene?”

“Irene Farley? Hufflepuff? Gorgeous, short black hair, kind of small? She’s in our year group.”

“I think I know who you mean; did she take Arithmancy?” James shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know. “Why would she buy you a present?” James smiled, almost sadly this time. It was not a smile she had ever seen on him before, and she was rather startled by it.

“She knows the reason why we broke up.”

“Ok I’m going to pretend that makes sense for your sake-”

“I told her that I was breaking up with her because her owl ate all of my socks- which it did- hence the owl related present.”

“But that wasn’t the reason?”

“I think that reason is pretty legitimate!”

“Not what I asked.” James glared at her. She’d never give up would she? Not until she found out every secret he had.

“I don’t ask about all of your secrets-”

“You legitimately do.”

“When have I ever-”

“Potter we’d barely spoken ten words to each other when you started prodding about my family and how I felt about their deaths. If that doesn’t scream nosy I don’t know what will.”

“That wasn’t a _secret_ though-”

“Do you hear me screaming it into the void? You are one of only nine people who knows my grandfather tortured me and then wiped my memory. Do you understand how hard it was to tell you that? He could have done anything, _anything_ to me in the time that I can’t remember. I don’t know who I’d be if I had all my memories. Telling you that was telling you that I don’t know _who I am_. I really can’t get more secret-like than that.”

“Ok, ok so you tell me your secrets. For the record; I know exactly who you are.”

“Oh?” James rolled his eyes.

“You’re actually going to make me say it?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You’re my _friend_ Blackwood. Missing memories and all. And when you get those memories back no matter what they contain, that’s what you’ll still be.” Jayna raised her eyebrows, because it was either do this or hug him. “So-”

“Move on from what you just said otherwise you’re going to ruin it like you do with every other nice thing you say.” James mock-scowled at her.

“Fine.”

“So the real reason you broke up with Irene?” James shrugged.

“I was scared. I could see us actually staying together. Long-term style.”

“So you broke up with her because you liked her too much?”

“I told myself that if I liked her enough, I wouldn’t want to break up with her more than I wanted to stay with her.”

“So find someone that you have to chase.”

“What?”

“By the time you actually get her to like you; _in a very consensual and free way that involves you backing off if she tells you she’s not interested_ you’ll like her a lot, because you’ve spent all that time getting to know her. However, because you’re not officially together, you haven’t spent that time learning to like her also learning to fear her breaking up with you. Ta-da.”

“And you became the relationship guru, when?” He laughed. If he’d taken her advice then, instead of three years later, a certain conversation between a plane passenger and a person stuck in an elevator may have been very different. But that’s later.

“Do some work Potter.” Jayna sighed, exasperated but unable to resist being amused by his charms.


	14. Of Secrets, Secrets and Yet More Secrets

Sam sat, bored, on James’ bed. Unsurprisingly, he took longer in the shower than she did, and she usually spent a good ten minutes sat on his bed after Quidditch practice had finished, waiting for him to come out of the bathroom. He still had his birthday cards up, two days later, and, considering she had nothing else to do, Sam thought she might as well read some.

An owl card with googly eyes caught her attention, and she picked it up with some interest. She winced as she realised it was from Irene, but didn’t put it down. Though James didn’t speak about it, she knew he had really liked Irene, which was probably the reason he broke up with her. James liked to be in control of his own emotions as much as he liked to live in chaos, and not being able to control how he felt was clearly something that scared him.

Sam hadn’t liked Irene. She’d liked her more than she’d liked any of his other girlfriends, but Irene was too cheerful and perceptive for Sam. She kept trying to get to know her, sensing that if she didn’t get Sam’s approval James wouldn’t be keeping her for long, but Sam didn’t appreciate this. She knew it was stupid but it would be nice if they wanted to get to know Sam for Sam, not for her ability to change James’ mind. She’d tried explaining this to James once, who’d looked at her like she was crazy. “They’re going out with me Sam, not you. Surely they would’ve already made friends with you if they wanted to?” He’d said, and Sam had dropped the subject.

It didn’t really help James’ reputation when he dumped Irene and started going out with Laura Hackett in the same day but for some reason, possibly her Hufflepuff-status, Irene hadn’t found this insulting. Sam knew deep down though that it wasn’t because Irene was a nice person, though she was, but because Irene knew what only a handful of people did; James had immediately jumped on the Laura Hackett bandwagon to try and prove to himself that he didn’t like Irene that much which, unfortunately for James, actually proved that he definitely did.

She knew that James didn’t have feelings for her anymore, but it took him until he started going out with April last year before they went away, which was more than a year after he and Irene had broken up.

_Dear J,_

_Happy Birthday!_

_I hope you like your present; you may be able to sense a slight theme here._

_I haven’t spoken to you in a while and I hope you know that it’s not because I’m angry with you. I just feel more like myself when you’re not around. Merlin that sounds horrible doesn’t it! You’re rather hard to get over J, don’t let that go to your head, and I just need a little more time. I’m getting there though. Hanley is helping a lot, though I know you don’t like him. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why!_

_You haven’t been out with anyone in a while, has some girl actually caught your eye for once? Congratulations on getting onto your house team, though I’m afraid we’re still going to win the Quidditch cup._

_Not-Yours (your loss ;)),_

_I_

Sam glared at the card, putting it back where she’d found it. “Thanks a bloody lot Irene.” She huffed. No doubt James was already considering girls to go out with, worried that people were going to start thinking that he actually fancied someone. After the three-week long mess that was his ‘relationship’ with Laura Hackett, the school had forgotten all about the seriousness of him and Irene, exactly as he’d hoped, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“What?” James asked, a towel wrapped around his waist as he tried to dislodge some water from his ear. Sam rolled her eyes and threw a t-shirt at him from the trunk under his bed.

“Nevermind.”

“These glasses that Lien got me really do work.”

“How many of the relationships that you’ve been in have you regretted Dwp?” James ran a hand through his hair in thought, not minding the abrupt subject change.

“Let’s see… I regret Rephia because I didn’t realise that she actually liked me and she still glares at me in the corridors. I regret Riley-” He shuddered. “Thank Merlin I ended that one. Irene… I had fun with Irene I don’t regret that one. Laura-”

“Please tell me you regret _Laura_.” Sam interrupted. James shrugged. “You do remember the time that she stripped down to her underwear in Potions because Quinn didn’t believe that she wasn’t wearing clothes underneath her robes?” James’ eyes glazed over slightly. She threw a pillow at him. “We were twelve years old James! Who does that at seventeen, let alone twelve!” James coughed.

“Anyway, Josie was alright I suppose.” Sam snorted. “And I didn’t really have time to regret Sally considering we only went out for three days. While it lasted April and I were fine but I kind of regret going out with someone so prejudiced.”

“So you only didn’t properly regret one. Out of seven.”

“Are you trying to make a point about Irene? I thought you didn’t like her and she’s going out with Hanley Leonardson now.”

“I’m not, I don’t and I don’t care. I just don’t understand why you keep throwing yourself into these relationships that you’re going to end as soon as you get bored. Why don’t you just wait to find someone you actually like?” James shrugged again.

“Waiting is boring. Might as well get some practice while I am. Do you actually like Lee?” He didn’t mean it to be a hard question to answer and so was quite surprised when Sam blushed.

“Yeah. Yeah I actually like her quite a bit.”

“Oh?” He asked, pulling the t-shirt on. Without needing to be asked Sam turned to face the door as he dropped his towel and grabbed some more clean clothes. “You’re quite quiet about it. I don’t even know how you two got together.”

The memory flashed back in Sam’s head as if it was yesterday. She’d been desperately confused after Lydjah’s party and while James was off practising like crazy to get onto the Quidditch team she’d found herself wandering around the castle, doing a lot of way too deep thinking. Being bisexual wasn’t something she was against, just something she’d never considered before. When she put the idea into her head though, she suddenly realised it made a lot of sense.

It was only when Lee called her name that she realised she’d wandered into the library.

_“You look a little lost.” Lee laughed. Sam took a seat next to her with a strange expression._

_“Would you like to go out with me sometime?” It took Sam two seconds to realise that it had been her that had just spoken. Lee blinked at her._

_“I didn’t realise you were-”_

_“Neither did I actually.” Lee regarded her for a moment longer and then, as if she couldn’t help herself, she’d smiled. A proper, full-blown real smile. Sam had never seen this expression on the Ravenclaw before, and couldn’t help but smile back._

_“Sure. But only because you know how to sneak out to Hogsmeade.”_

From there, their relationship had started off being very hit and miss. Neither of them were quite sure how to act until Sam finally decided that they should just go out how they wanted to, not how social convention dictated they should. They snuck out to get ice-creams in Hogsmeade every weekend and found that they could speak for hours without getting bored. The romantic side of things didn’t develop until after their relationship became public, and it was still a very private affair. They’d hold hands in the corridors, especially when it was cold, but there would be nothing particularly romantic about the gesture. Both of them hated flowers and random gifts, especially since neither of them had a lot of money to throw around.

“It wasn’t a very big affair.” Was Sam’s only reply.

 

“So, Andrews.” Sam gave a bemused look to her girlfriend as Lydjah sandwiched her way in-between them as they sat outside on a bench in courtyard. James and Jayna were in a heated discussion about their current Muggle Studies project (Jayna was arguing that they should do it on electricity but James said that would be cheating because they hadn’t actually covered that yet which led to Jayna accusing him of only wanting to do what they had already studied so that he wouldn’t have to put in any extra work).

“Make yourself at home Dawson.” Sam said wryly. Lee rolled her eyes and moved out of Lydjah’s way.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow.”

“We know.”

“ _So_ I’m thinking we sneak out to Hogsmeade, in honour of soon being allowed to go legally, you two, James, Jayna and I, grab some alcohol and come back to Ravenclaw tower to get royally pissed.” Sam frowned.

“Sneaking out a whole bunch of us like that… We’d have to go through the One-Eyed Witch passage.” James and Jayna moved into the conversation.

“The One-Eyed Witch passage? Isn’t that-”

“Where we all almost died last year Lydjah? Right around this time actually?” Lee sat up straighter.

“You guys almost died last year?” She asked, not surprised but vaguely amused.

“Oh yeah it was just before Lydjah’s party when James and Jayna got kidnapped-” Sam replied.

“Wait, they _actually_ got kidnapped? I thought that was just a rumour.” Lee cut in.

“How is it that gossip about Fred and I making out on the Quidditch Pitch after curfew when there was no-one around to see us gets out but a kidnapping doesn’t?” Lydjah pouted.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Sam said, exasperated, “I don’t think going down there is a good idea.”

“Oh come on Sam, they had to remove the killer-plant thing otherwise the school would have been closed down. That passage is probably safer than all the other ones now.” Sam rolled her eyes.

“All the teachers probably know where it is then.” James harrumphed.

“As if my dad would have told them all that. He was a possessor of the Marauder’s Map and code once too.”

“It has a code?” Jayna snorted. James glared at him. “ _Oooo_ I’m so sorry for offending your secret map club.” She said mockingly.

“It’s not a map club; it’s a lifestyle.” James said scathingly. Lydjah bit her lips to keep from laughing. Jayna had no such restraint.

“Ok Potter, you tell yourself that.”

“Shut up Blackwood. Are we going to Hogsmeade or not?” Sam sent a questioning look to Lee who shrugged.

“Sure.” Jayna frowned, scrunching her mouth up.

“Come on Jay-Jay; we’re only breaking the rules a tinsy little bit.”

“Fine. But if we get caught I can do a really good impression of a victim of a Confundus curse and I will not be afraid to use it.”

“Great! Meet tomorrow at half seven and wear something practical but pretty if you can manage it.” Sam rolled her eyes heavenward.

 

At precisely half-seven on the 3rd of October 2018, James Potter finally turned up at the One-Eyed Witch statue, seeming not at all put off by the fact that he was the lone boy in a group of girls, but rather out of breath.

“Get in the passage; Thorne’s just round the corner.” Sam immediately leaped to do what he said but it took the other’s a second to remember who Thorne was, as they were so used to having Filch as the caretaker.

The walk through the passage was rather cramped, and the tension radiating from Sam and Lydjah was enough to cramp the conversation too, until they turned up in Honeydukes’ cellar.

“Where are we?” Jayna whispered.

“Honeydukes.” James answered, smiling appreciatively at the sweets around him. Their first Hogsmeade weekend was the next weekend coming up, but the novelty of the village had lost its appeal slightly since James had been coming to it from his first year.

Jayna looked around in awe, a happy grin lighting up her face. “I feel slightly faint but I’ll live. I think this breaking the rules thing will have to be slightly more occasional.”

“Jayna we break the rules every weekend.” Sam pointed out.

“How?” Lee asked. The rest of their group tensed slightly, completely forgetting that Lee wasn’t in the know.

“We keep visiting the Chamber of Secrets.” James supplied easily.

“The place I had to get you out of last year?” Lee asked, unimpressed. “Why?”

“Shits and giggles.” Lydjah replied. “Sam and James like to practice for Quidditch down there, and Jayna and I have to supervise and check that they don’t kill themselves.” Lee smirked. Sam gestured to them from the top of the stairs that led up into the back of the shop.

“It’s all closed, we’re good to go.”

“Wait; how are we going to get out if they’ve locked the door?” Jayna asked as they climbed the stairs. James froze from above her, and then hurried to talk to Sam. Sam went over to the front door, not looking very hopeful.

“ _Alohomora_!” Nothing happened.

“If they hadn’t put the anti-unlocking spell on it, Honeydukes would have been robbed ages ago.” Lydjah pointed out.

“Looks like we’re stuck in here then. Sorry Lydjah.” James sighed.

“It’s alright, there’s still a lot of nice food in here.” Jayna gasped.

“Lyd-Jah! That’s stealing!” Lydjah rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t suggesting that we just take it and don’t leave money on the counter you lemon.”

“We should leave a list of what we took as well; they must have an inventory that they have to fill in.” Sam added.

“How do you know that?” James asked curiously.

“My mum worked in a shop for a while. Used to have me as her assistant in the summer.”

“Fair enough. Let’s go find some snacks.” The group split off to find food. They came back with varying degrees of spoils, from Sam’s simple chocolate bar to Jayna’s outrageous two bags full of food.

“What? I get really hungry before tea. I’m not going to eat it all in one go.”

Lydjah reached a hand into her pocket and brought out her phone, switching it on at the side. “What the Hell is that?” Lee asked.

“It’s a box that Muggles use to talk to each other across long distances, because their post takes _ages_.” Jayna said proudly. Lydjah rolled her eyes.

“It does other things too but yeah its primary function is a talking device. It’s called a mobile phone, phone for short.”

“Oh.” Lydjah hit the screen with her spare hand.

“Work you piece of shit!” She said angrily. The screen flickered a few times before the phone gave up again.

“This is an all magical community Lydjah. Muggle devices still don’t work here.” Sam said. Lydjah scowled, putting her phone back in her pocket.

“I love the Wizarding world to bits but seriously Muggles have their shit together much more in terms of everyday appliances.”

“Why bother developing appliances when you have magic?” James pointed out.

“We still use quills here James. _Quills_.”

The conversation between the five of them continued until late into the night, when they finally decided to head back to the castle. Sam and James bid them goodnight, Jayna profusely thanking Sam and Lee for setting a good example for Lydjah of what an appropriate public goodbye should be like (a quick peck on the cheek), much to their embarrassment, and the three Ravenclaws made it back to their tower thankfully without any trouble, giggling all the while.

They stayed up chatting in the Common Room for a bit and helping themselves to Jayna’s sizeable chocolate stash before Lee finally got up with a yawn and made her way into their dormitory, rather quietly for someone of such a muscular build.

Jayna murmured something sleepily as Lee disappeared into their room. Lydjah paused in her own ascent as she realised her friend hadn't yet moved off the sofa. "What?"

"Do you know what's wrong with Lee?" 

"Again, what?" Lydjah asked, a slight smile on her face as she regarded her friend's messy hair and half-lidded eyes. 

"Well I thought you might know because she knows what happened to you when you were younger." 

"Sorry?" Lydjah croaked, hurrying over to the sofa. Jayna sat up, looking a little more awake. 

"Whatever you're not telling me. She knows right?" 

"If she's told you something-" Lydjah started angrily. 

"No I just guessed. You share looks sometimes." Lydjah frowned. For someone who was generally as perceptive as a brick wall, Jayna did have her moments. She sighed. 

"… I was really bad at the start of first year. I missed my parents... Did a couple of stupid things including getting piss drunk while lost in the castle. Lee found me and I ended up confessing the whole lot because I was so drunk. That's the only reason I did it. I hadn't realised there was anything wrong with Lee. I mean she's a little different but so are we." 

"Ok." 

"Ok? That's it? No quizzing?" 

"If you wanted me to know you would've told me. So no I'm not going to ask. I hope you know nothing will change my opinion of you. I mean if you murdered someone-" Lydjah flinched, her pallor turning from her usual slightly peaky to deathly white. "Lyd-Jah? You- you _killed_ someone?" 

"It was an accident." Lydjah breathed, looking panicky. Jayna's eyes widened. Knowing the pain of losing someone close to her, she didn’t know if this was something she could forgive her friend for.

"I'm sorry I was just joking I didn't realise-" Jayna said hastily, not wanting to know anymore.

"It's ok." Lydjah said, sounding very not ok. 

"I'll just shut up I'm sorry you don't have to-"

"I've already confessed the bad bit. Might as well tell you the context." Jayna sat back down from where she'd half-raised out of her seat to leave. Lydjah took a deep breath, stumbling through her words. "I was eight.” Jayna’s eyes got even wider. “My magic had just started showing up, I was a bit late you see. My dad was showing me around magical London, and he went to Gringotts to get some money, told me to wait outside. Just for five minutes... I got curious. He hadn't told me about Knockturn alley yet... Anyway I wandered down there and got hopelessly lost. I tried to ask this man for directions-" She cut herself off, losing her voice for a second. "Sorry. I tried to ask this man for directions and he attacked me. Something about how nice young humans tasted... I don't know what kind of creature he was but after...” Lydjah squeezed her eyes shut and Jayna felt bile rise in her throat as she realised the extent of what this man-like creature had done to her best friend. “After a bit he tried to knock me unconscious. And my accidental magic...” She sped up for the last part of her explanation, rushing through the words so quickly that Jayna barely had chance to hear them. “I shot him with a bolt of light. Huge hole in his chest. Pretty painless to be fair. I found my own way out, found my dad and got out of there. Didn't hear from anybody about it so I assumed he wasn't missed much." 

"Lydjah... I don't know what to say." Lydjah chuckled darkly, her face clouding over as she began to brace herself for the loss of a friend. "I don't fault you at all for killing him!" Jayna added hurriedly, to Lydjah’s surprise. "I'm just _so_ … Sad that that happened to you."

"You don't mind that I'm a murderer?" Jayna shrugged.  
"So are Harry Potter and Molly Weasley technically. Pretty sure they saved loads of people by killing bad guys. All the Aurors have been involved in at least one death of a bad person. They're heroes. And you definitely killed a bad guy."   
"So you're saying I'm a hero?" Lydjah said sceptically. Jayna grinned, slowly but surely.   
"Yep."

Lee sighed as she moved away from her eavesdropping spot at the door. Riley and Paige were sleeping in the common room as was the custom when it was someone else’s birthday.

For a moment she considered telling Jayna and Lydjah what was wrong with her. They were the closest thing she had to friends. Contrary to popular belief, her family hadn’t left Africa because everyone there hated her so much they were threatening to kill her. She’d had friends there. Besides, what would be the point in trying to kill her when she was already marked for death?

By the time Lydjah and Jayna came in Lee was sat in her bed with the curtains drawn. They lowered their voices, assuming she was asleep but Lee didn’t move until she was sure they’d drifted into the land of dreams.

She hadn’t been there in a long time. Last year, when Jayna had been on the same Dreamless Sleep Potion as her she’d spent weeks arguing with herself about whether to warn her about what would happen when she went off it. But that would’ve led to questions about how she knew, (Jayna wasn’t stupid though despite all she’d been through she wasn’t exactly clever either) questions she didn’t want to answer. Dreamless sleep potion was dangerous because it could lead to chronic insomnia (a side-effect Lee had developed years ago); in long-term circumstances it was only authorised if, by dreaming, the patient would be a serious harm to themselves or others. Lee had seen how potent Jayna’s nightmares had been four months after the event that had triggered them occurred, so she assumed that had she had the nightmares from the start she probably would’ve injured herself in a fit, like the one she’d had at the start of the year. She didn’t know the story behind Jayna’s nightmares, but she knew the rumours, most of them spread by an angry sleep-deprived Riley Skeeter. (Jayna may have put up silencing charms but they didn’t always last the whole night.)

Jayna had definitely been tortured, that much must be true, but Lee thought that either she’d been under for the entire time James and her had been captured or there was something else going on. She was curious, but not curious enough to find out. Curiosity led to questions which led to being in people’s debt for sharing their knowledge. And Lee was not about to share any of her own.

She picked up her wand and renewed the spells around her bed, like she did every night. She didn’t need to; the spells would quite likely hold until she took them away now but it was soothing, a routine. Spells to keep other things out, spells to keep her in, spells to monitor her breathing and her heart rate. If either stopped, spells to alert Professor Vector.  
She had a lot to owe to the Headmistress, which was why she made a conscious effort to avoid her. All the teachers knew, in case something happened in their classes, but the old Arithmancy professor was the only one in the school who could make any decisions based on her secret. And she’d still been allowed to stay in the school. The whole summer after first year she had waited for a letter telling her that she wouldn’t be allowed back in September. Professor McGonagall had been the one to let her in and she didn’t expect the new Headmistress to do the same. But she had.

Not that she was a danger to the other students, or at least, not because of that. She often wondered though, why the Headmistress bothered to waste resources and time on a student who wouldn’t live long enough to give anything back to the world. Not that she wanted to. This world was cruel and she’d never fitted in it. Not after her diagnosis at least.  
Kidallis. The word haunted her constantly. It wasn’t brought up often, for which she was grateful, but whenever someone mentioned it something like fear coiled up in her stomach and tried to poison her heart.

She brought out the dilapidated paper from the top drawer of her bedside table. Riley had learnt long ago that coming near Lee’s stuff would result in an array of nasty jinxes heading her way. She did her best to smooth out the creases from being folded and unfolded too many times and opened the booklet to the first page.

_Information:_

_Kidallis is a terminal Wizarding virus. It affects only a small percent of the population but so far no links can be made genetically or environmentally as to why certain people are born with the disease. It is not infectious. The disease is present in all the cells of the patient and can be easily diagnosed if someone is looking for it. However, Kidallis does not have any effect or symptoms until around three months before it completely takes over the host body and so most patients are found either by accident or when they only have three months left. Kidallis-patients have an average life expectancy of fifteen years of age. Even with the proper treatment, a patient can only be expected to live until eighteen at most. As of yet, there is no cure._

The last sentence stuck in her throat and she hastily shoved the booklet away, as she always did. She wished more than anything that they’d never found the Kidallis gene in her blood. She’d gone for a blood-test to find out if she was diabetic (which she wasn’t) and had been told then that she had six years left to live, nine if she was very lucky. She didn’t really see how three years were going to help her but her parents were determined she would have them which is why they immediately moved to England, where she could receive the best treatment the world had to offer. She’d spent the next year in her own room in St Mungo’s, learning English while her parents fought and cried too much. During a particularly bad fight they’d had, Lee shaved off all her hair, just to see if they even saw her as their daughter anymore, and not just the thing they had allowed themselves to love only to find out it was intent on breaking their hearts. They had noticed, but not until a few days afterwards, and Lee had her answer.

That was about the time that she started campaigning to go to school in England, as she knew her parents would never agree to go back to Africa. The hospital had got all the samples and information they could possibly want from her; she’d done her part in helping their cure research. She wanted to live her life, because Merlin knew she didn’t have much of it left.

It wasn’t until she actually stepped onto the Hogwarts Express for the first time that she realised she was only going to trade her parents’ depression for someone else’s. She was stood on a train-full of potential casualties from the bomb her death would bring. Kidallis hadn’t only taken years off her life; it had stopped her from being able to live in the first place. She could not make friends, could not fall for anybody, could not even form a close bond with her teachers. It was bad enough she’d broken her parents; she would not hurt anyone else.

She was really glad Quidditch had been invented. This year was going to be better than the last. She had something to throw herself into, something that made her make reckless impulsive decisions, something to make her forget that she was selfish and she’d tried to snatch happiness knowing the cost was Sam’s heart.


	15. Of Misunderstandings and An Unfortunate Situation Involving A Sweet Shop, An Apologetic Present, A Memory, A Vision and A Smashed Pair Of Glasses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are discussions of non-con and underage sex in this chapter; no actual non-con or underage occurs.
> 
> Also for the record I totally believe in the age of consent but Lydjah's experiences in this fic are actually based off a real friend of mine, and not an exaggeration (apart from like the magic and murder stuff obviously).

_31 years ago_

_Celina Daviau was known around school as rather intriguing. She was pretty, she was funny, and her parents were both professors at the school. While her mother, Professor B Daviau, was pretty and her father, Professor E Daviau, was funny, neither parent showed signs of the wicked intelligence that made Celina so special. She was quicker than anyone else in her year-group, head of every extra-curricular academic club and completely outspoken in her distain for prejudice._

_Devin Luca Blackwood III didn’t stand a chance._

_He’d blushed and stumbled his way around her for years, in fact the only thing stopping his peers from exploding with laughter at his predicament was fear of his father. His father was an eccentric, a mysterious gentleman with a cloak of secrets, aloof, dark and confusing, even to his three sons. He was a Pureblood through and through, from his haughty manner to his twisted way of speaking and disappointment etched itself onto his features every time he spoke to Devin. Ghost stories surrounded his father, apparent sightings of him in places where he could never hope to be and he seemed to have half the ministry of France in his back pocket._

_Devin had never wanted any part in it. In fact, if it wasn’t for his brothers, he would’ve run away a long time ago. He had enough money, he could do it. It wasn’t exactly that Devin believed the ghost stories but even without that his father had always been distant and his mother… Ugh. She’d cheated on his father but refused to allow him to end their marriage, insisting it would ruin all of her social standing. She never apologised for the havoc this had wrecked on her sons’ lives, for the months of sleepless nights as the two of them fought loudly all over the house. Devin couldn’t see the point in having a house so large if it didn’t hide what it was supposed to._

_He knew he wasn’t supposed to love anybody who wasn’t the purest of Purebloods. And he knew that if he was disowned for falling in love with Celina, the burden of being the oldest son would suddenly come crumbling down on Anton. But right at that moment, as Celina Daviau brushed past him in the corridor, her hair swinging freely causing the calming scent of lavender to wash over him, he didn’t particularly care._

_“Celina!” His call was slightly too loud for the distance between them and he winced internally. She spun back around to face him, regarding him with bored confusion. Despite the fact that he was a good five inches taller, she still managed to make him feel small._

_“Blackwood?” She replied, calmly. He put his hands into his back pockets, swinging onto the balls of his feet, but managing to force himself to keep eye-contact and not look completely like a nervous prat._

_“I was wondering if you might like to go out with me this weekend.” He tried for a smile at the end. She raised an incredulous eyebrow._

_“No.” She said flatly, looking slightly disgusted, before turning and stalking away, her two best friends hurrying after her a moment later. He felt heat rush into his cheeks and wished desperately for a hole to come and swallow him up._

_Christophe, his youngest brother, clapped him on the back sympathetically. “Sorry bro. At least you tried.”_

_“Yeah.” Anton backed up. “Come on, lets go to diner.”_

 

_Celina Daviau stalked towards the dining hall, shuddering. Who the Hell did Devin Luca Blackwood III think he was? What a pretentious arsehole. As if she’d ever go out with someone who was so racist that he couldn’t even be friends with people outside his own brothers. He was sickening._

_“Jesus Celina, wait up!” Ivonne Yount panted. Celina rolled her eyes and slowed down._

_“What?” She asked impatiently._

_“That was a little harsh with Devin, wasn't it?” Celina gave her a disbelieving look._

_“Yeah, Devin's liked you for years.” Mae Voclain chipped in. Celina couldn’t believe what her best friends were saying._

_“Are you joking? Devin's an arsehole.” Her two friends frowned at her._

_“How?” Ivonne questioned. Celina raised an eyebrow._

_“For one, he takes right after his father-”_

_"What? He's as much like his father as you are like your mother!"_

_“No way! He's always snooping around, looking guilty every time we make eye-contact. I haven't spoken to him since first year!" Ivonne and Mae both burst out laughing._

_“Oh Celina. The boy is half in love with you! He's always looking at you in complete awe-"_

_"Laughs whenever you say something funny-"_

_"Always asks us if you're ok every time you go off ill-"_

_"Became a Prefect just to see you more often-"_

_"And he hasn't been out with anyone, even though he's one of the hottest blokes in our year, because he's so hung-up on you!" Celina blinked rapidly._

_"There's still the fact that he doesn't have any friends except his brothers because he thinks the rest of us are below him-"_

_"That's definitely not true! His only friends are his brothers because he's so ridiculously shy! Anton thinks it's also because he doesn't think a whole lot of himself, and always blames himself when anything goes wrong in their household, which is a lot of the time." Mae interrupted as they finally made it to the dining hall and sat down. She’d dated Anton for a while the year before, even though he was two years younger. The three Blackwood boys each had two years between them; Christophe was only in first year._

_"Whatever. I still don't want to go out with him."_

_"That's fine. But I think you should apologise for being so abrupt. The way you looked at him was making me feel like shit, let alone him." Ivonne advised. Celina squirmed in her seat._

_"Later, alright?"_

_"You know you'll never do it if you wait any longer." Celina had what she would call a minor and Ivonne and Mae would call a bloody flipping ginormous problem with pride. She didn’t get things wrong. Ever._

 

_“Devin!” Celina snapped. Devin jumped in his seat from where he’d been stirring his soup morosely. “Come with me.” She didn’t wait for his response before spinning on her heel and striding out of the hall. Anton and Christophe shot him a helpless look. Honestly he was impressed she’d managed to find him so quickly; the dining hall was huge._

_He climbed out of his seat and hurried after her, a hundred apologies already forming in his head. She was stood a little way away from the door, face screwed up as if in severe concentration. “I'm really sorry.” He blurted._

_“What?” She asked, her expression clearing._

_“I didn't realise my offer was going to upset you so much I just really like you and I wanted to tell you that but I understand why you don't want to go out with me and that's completely fine because you're Celina Daviau and I'm really shy and I'm just really sor-" She cut him off with a kiss, linking her arms around his neck and drawing him closer to her, so that she didn’t have to stretch up so far on her toes. He bent down until he was nearly horizontal, kissing her back with the most enthusiasm he’d ever felt for anything in his life so far._

_She broke away after a long moment, but kept her arms around him. “I was wondering, Devin- No screw it I don't like your full name and title so from now on I'm calling you Luca- Luca, I was wondering if you might like to go out with me to the village this weekend.” She didn’t apologise, but Devin knew her offer was an apology in itself. He didn’t know what he’d done in the time between leaving for the dining hall and coming here to change her mind so drastically but he wasn’t complaining in the slightest._

_“Yes. Yes I would.”_

 

Jayna Ivonne Blackwood woke up screaming. She wish she could say it had been the first time, or even just the first time this week, but it wasn’t. The memory that involved Lizzie Bagby plagued her every night, and every night it became that little bit closer to the start of that memory, before the torture began. She vomited now almost as much as Lydjah did she thought, with an exhausted sigh as she rested her face against the cool of the bathroom sink. The two girls had taken it in turn to puke their guts out yesterday morning, which had been a bonding experience, if a thoroughly disgusting one. For the moment, Lydjah was still regarding her with wariness, as if she expected Jayna at any point to suddenly retract her friendship.

Jayna didn’t see Lydjah any differently. It explained a few things; like how she was more mature, and why she hated being so, and why she knew so much more about sex than the rest of them did.

“Why are you so comfortable talking about sex?” Jayna asked, quietly, as she gingerly ate some breakfast. Now she understood why Lydjah put on make-up every morning; waking up at ridiculous hours terrified for your life and therefore immediately emptying the contents of your stomach did not do wonders for one’s appearance. Lydjah shrugged, swallowing a mouthful of fruit.

“I didn’t want to let a shitty experience get in the way of having fun. And believe me, sex is a _lot_ of fun when it’s consensual.”

“You don’t think you’re a bit… Young?” Jayna’s voice dropped to a whisper. Lydjah shrugged again.

“Probably. But I’ve kind of got past the point of caring about that now. I had a couple of… Bad years after everything happened. Made some questionable decisions, especially when it came to sex. And while now looking back on it, it seems really stupid, I have got a lot of experience. There were some good times mixed up in there too.”

“When you were nine?!” Jayna said incredulously. When she was age nine she’d barely understood what sex was, let alone that it was something that could be enjoyable. She’d seen it as a necessary and disgusting evil couples put themselves through to have children. It wasn’t really until she’d gotten to Hogwarts that she’d found out people did it for pleasure.  
“You’d be surprised about how many people believe whatever age you tell them.” All Jayna could picture was a shorter pudgier Lydia in a princess dress with matching plastic tiara, legs swinging from a barstool and a shot glass in her hand. She shook her head in wordless disbelief and continued picking at her food.

“Hey guys, you’re coming to Hogsmeade today ri- Merlin Jayna what happened to you?” Jayna groaned, banging her head on the table at Sam’s slightly horrified exclamation. James meanwhile was taking in the rest of Jayna’s appearance; a Bent-Winged Snitches tour t-shirt that modestly showed how much she’d grown over the summer and a snug pair of jeans. She looked somewhat odd in casual Muggle clothes, but not in a bad way. Lydjah was wearing a loose fitting flannel shirt and very short denim shorts with thin black tights but neither of their outfits could hide the exhausted way they slumped in their seats.

“Rough night.” Lydjah explained. “Whole lot of nightmares.”

“You need to eat something; you look really pale.” James said, trying to keep the concern out of his voice as he looked over his friend. Jayna shook her head without speaking.

“Whole lot of puking too.” Lydjah added. James made a face.

“Are you ill?” Jayna leant her head on Lydjah’s shoulder, half-closing her eyes.

“No. Just very, very hungry, very, very tired and very, very scared.”

“Scared?” Jayna gestured vaguely with her hand.

“Nightmares Potter?”

“Your nightmares scare you so much they make you puke?” James said incredulously. The three of them looked at him.

“You’ve never been scared enough that you felt like puking? What about with that Quintaped last year?” James shrugged.

“I wasn’t really thinking then. Blackwood’s got her memories; what made you two puke?”

“Personal much.” Sam pointed out.

“Go on.” He said, rolling his eyes.

“Last year with the Quintaped and every time my dad phones my house.”

“Why were you scared of the Quintaped? You weren’t even injured.” Sam gave him a pointed look. “What?” Sam sighed dramatically.

“You were though.”

“What’s that supposed to- Oh.” They both looked away uncomfortably. Jayna bit back a laugh. Thankfully for Lydjah, the slightly touched but very please-stop-talking-about-feelings mood to the atmosphere made James forget what he was asking.

“Yes we’re coming to Hogsmeade.” Jayna said eventually, taking a small bite of her toast.

“You want to meet at The Three Broomsticks for lunch?” Sam suggested. Jayna made a face.

“I doubt I’ll feel like eating but sure.” James’ brows pulled together.

“Don’t let yourself get too thin. Guys don’t like skinny girls.” The three girls blinked at him in astonishment. Sam shook her head at him from where Jayna and Lydjah couldn’t see before speeding off towards the Gryffindor table.

“If you think that I give a flying fuck about what guys think of my appearance then you have another thought coming you insensitive prick!” Jayna snarled. James backtracked fast.

“I didn’t mean it like that I was just wor-”

“How did you mean it then Potter?” Lydjah retorted. James flinched. Only Jayna called him Potter. Jayna looked at him in disgust, but below that he could see the hurt and the insecurities about her appearance simmering.

“I-” Jayna shrugged, standing up from the bench, Lydjah following her lead.

“Whatever. See you around.” They walked off, leaving James kicking himself.

 

Honeydukes sweet-shop was known nation-wide for being one of the best places to buy confectionary. In fact, the only problem with Honeydukes was that in the last few months its owners had found themselves in need of an extra hand, what with the two of them becoming rather frail. The extra hand they’d chosen to hire though, one of their nephews, turned out to be the laziest sod they’d ever come across, but they didn’t want to upset their relatives by firing him.

On the day that the first school trip to Hogsmeade of the year was about to take place, the owners had reluctantly called him in, knowing the sheer amount of customers they were going to have required more staff. Their incompetent nephew, having not thrown away any of the old stock last time he was working, restocked the shelves with that when the children bought all of it, and by the time James Potter and Sam Andrews wandered into the store, most of the shop’s food was out of date.

James, still feeling very guilty about this morning, though pretending not to be, had bought three flowers and was now hunting down some of Jayna’s favourite no-melt ice-cream. Sam, who knew exactly what he was doing and was bored of advising James to think first and talk later, said that she was going to buy a couple of sweets and then go and find Lee, and she’d meet up with him again at lunchtime.

James barely heard her, a first in their friendship, and didn’t even bother to check the date on the front of the ice-cream tub before he ran to the till.

“You are aware that this is no-melt ice-cream, right?” The cashier said kindly, looking at his slightly red face. “You don’t need to rush.”

“I’m not rushing because of the ice-cream.” James replied distractedly, tapping his foot impatiently as the cashier rang-up his items (he couldn’t resist buying a packet of the new fudge they’d created too). “Keep the change.” He said as he hurriedly placed two galleons on the counter and then sprinted out of the shop.

‘ _What else does Blackwood like?_ ’ He thought, glancing down the streets and reading the shop names. ‘ _Socks?_ ’ He jogged to Gladrags Wizardwear and picked up the most ostentatious pair of socks that he could find (they were bright neon green with red patterns). ‘ _Books? Potions? I can’t buy her a bloody cauldron that’s what she got me for my birthday. Plus I have no idea what kind of books she likes. Buying her a potion would just make her think I think she needs to change something. Merlin’s saggy left tit! I can’t buy her jewellery, I’m not her boyfriend. This is literally the shittiest apology present ever. At least I’ve got the ice-cream. Why the fuck did I buy her flowers? Oh my god she’s going to think I’m going to propose-_ ’ He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that it wasn’t until Rephia Dorsey icily pushed past him with a barely muttered ‘excuse-me’ that James realised he’d been stood in front of the door to the Three Broomsticks for the past five minutes.

Ducking his head he shuffled into the Three Broomsticks. A year ago, losing Jayna as a friend would have made him only vaguely bothered, but now he couldn’t help but want her to like him. She was a good person, and when good people didn’t like him it made him uncomfortable. So, for once, with only the slightest hint of a swagger in his walk, he made his way over to the table where Sam, Lee, Lydjah and Jayna were already sitting and smiled hopefully at them.

Sam immediately squidged into Lee’s side to make space for him, but he didn’t sit down immediately. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and put the ice-cream, the flowers and the socks in front of Jayna before he could change his mind. “I wanted to apologise.” She raised an eyebrow, but a smile was curling the corners of her mouth.

“You wanted to apologise so you bought me out of date ice-cream, three extremely squished flowers and the ugliest pair of socks I have ever seen?” Jayna asked. James blushed bright red. Jayna stood up from the edge of the bench and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re a fucking idiot. But thank you.” His smirk returned as he hugged her back and he shook off the weird craziness from earlier. He’d probably be just as crazy if any of his other friends were upset with him.

Right?

Jayna released him and sat down, leaving him to sit opposite her. She picked the socks up with an exasperated smile, but as soon as her fingers touched the material her eyes went wide. She grabbed a small box out of her pocket and pressed on the top. Lydjah leapt forward to grab her shoulder as she began to topple out of her chair, stunned.

“Jay-Jay?” Lydjah asked worriedly, the other four of them already rising out of their seats. That’s when she started screaming and broke free of Lydjah’s hands, falling to the floor. Healer Clearwater’s box hadn’t worked.

“STOP! STOP! STOP IT PLEASE! PLEASE STOP! I WON’T! I WON’T TELL! GRANDFATHER PLEASE! PLEASE! GRANDMOTHER DON’T! DON’T LET HIM PLEASE! PLEASE! STOP!” Her legs and arms were thrashing wildly, and her nails dug into the floor so much that two of them snapped, leaving her fingers bleeding. “HELP! HELP! PLEASE! MUM! MUM! HELP! DAD! PLEASE STOP! CARA! PLEASE SOMEBODY! STOP! I WON’T TELL, I WON’T TELL-” Sam’s silencing charm cut her off. Lydjah was frozen and James, despite himself, felt tears building up. He didn’t let any of them fall, but the idea of a childhood that started with this and ended with her entire family being murdered made James choke. Lee rapidly cast _Petrificus Totalus_ , and then followed it up with a levitation spell that made Jayna easier to carry. The pub was silent, shock on every patron’s face.

“What did Madam Longbottom do?” James hissed.

“Dreamless sleep potion.” Lydjah replied. Madam Rosmerta came bustling out from behind the bar, wand out. Lee seemed to fight with herself for a second, but then she dug into the back pocket of her jeans and came out with a small vial, which she proceeded to pour down Jayna’s throat, unable to look at the terror in Jayna’s wild eyes any longer.  
“What’s going on here?” Madam Rosmerta questioned, looking at James.

“Our friend suffers from PTSD. I’m really sorry if we disturbed anyone.” Lydjah explained, before James could. He shot her a look of confusion.

“‘PTSD’? She sounded like she was being tortured.” Lydjah cleared her throat.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Flashbacks in particular. We’re going to get her to Madam Longbottom.” She replied calmly. The other three nodded shakily in agreement and James slapped down enough coins to cover their drinks, leaving his awful presents behind.

Lee took the lead, Jayna following behind her. Lydjah grabbed one of her unconscious friend’s hands, not caring that Jayna’s blood was dripping down the side of her hand now and gripped it tightly. The buzz of conversation started as they left, gossiping about everything that had happened to Jayna in the past year. Sam felt sick.

“Why do you carry round vials of Dreamless Sleep potion? And how did you get it?” Sam asked Lee. Lee gave her an unreadable look, and didn’t reply. Sam felt her stomach flip over. She’d told Lee everything; from how she was frightened for her father’s life every day, to how uncertain she felt about being bisexual, to how lonely she still felt in a world that wasn’t her own. She thought they knew each other better than anyone else did, even James. James was almost part of her, how in sync they were, but because he understood her so well, she didn’t often tell him things. Half the time he already knew, and the rest of the time he was so understanding and would have done the exact same thing in her position that she almost wished they weren’t so similar. Talking to James was like talking to herself in the mirror; if she needed a problem to be solved she needed an outside view, not her own repeated back to her. Apparently though, she was wrong.

“I wish we could apparate.” James said, jokingly but they could all detect concern underneath.

“Would be a lot quicker.” Sam agreed.

“Even if we could apparate we still couldn’t apparate into the castle.” Lee pointed out. They all turned to ask Lydjah’s view only to find she’d stopped a few paces behind them, her eyes cloudy as she swayed slightly.

“Fuck.” Sam whispered.

_James, an older, taller James was lying in the middle of a snow-covered street, face-down, his messy black hair covering his face from view. Jayna was kneeling next to him, holding his hand, her eyes half crazed. It was dark, but Lydjah could still make out the distinctive shape of Hogsmeade around them. Snow was falling on the gathered people, but no-one seemed to be remotely interested. She watched as an older version of herself shot a stunning spell at someone she couldn’t see as Sam put her arm round a frightened younger boy that she didn’t recognise. Sam’s face was bleeding, a small cut near her ear and when she turned towards her best friend Lydjah noticed there was a small piece of glass lodged in the cut, that glimmered in the light._

“Sanguis Prohibre!” _Jayna pointed her wand at James’ face. Lydjah couldn’t describe the emotion in Jayna’s eyes, other than it was the same expression she’d worn when she’d seen her Auntie being wheeled past her in St Mungos. Knowing and watching as someone you loved died. She looked up at the older Lydjah with a stare she couldn’t look away from. “Lydjah, Efrain, get Potter up to the castle and to the Hospital Wing right fucking now. Sam you’re with me; we’re going to find the students and kill that bastard.” The older Lydjah’s eyes flickered with indecision for a second before she grabbed the younger boy’s, Lydjah assumed ‘Efrain’, hand and James’ jumper and disapparated._

_The scene swum and for a second Lydjah thought it was over, but then it solidified again; now she, Efrain and James’ prone form were outside the school gates._

“Locomotor Mortis!” _Her older self said hurriedly, launching herself through the gates as soon as the spell had taken hold, not noticing when James’ glasses fell off and smashed on the ground. “Efrain, go and get help. Get the teachers to go down to the village and all the students that are still here to go and help at the Hospital Wing. Now.” The younger boy nodded, terror making his legs stumble as he ran. Lydjah sprinted towards the castle, her wand hand held high in the air and even as tears began to flood down her cheeks she didn’t stop moving._

“Lydjah?” Sam asked carefully, as the Ravenclaw’s eyes came back into focus. She’d never had a vision of herself before. Sam was just happy she hadn’t made another prophecy. “Please tell me that was just a random vision about someone snogging here.” James raised an eyebrow.

“Weird place to snog, in the middle of the road.” The others ignored him.

“Have we ever been that lucky?” Lydjah smiled, if slightly shakily. “It doesn’t matter.”

“As if.” Sam scoffed. Lydjah looked at her.

“Fine then. It does matter, and I’m not telling you.”

“Why?”

“Because then you’ll all worry too.”

“But maybe we can figure some way out of it.”

“Once I’ve seen it, it always happens.” She shot the Gryffindor a sharp look and Sam took a deep breath and drew away from her as she realised what she was referring to.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” James asked. “Just like that? Hell no. What happened?”

“James please shut up; you’ve caused two people to go into trances today and it isn’t because of your manliness. The least you could do is not be an arse about it.” Lydjah said hotly.

“What did I say that caused your trance?” Lydjah rolled her eyes. “Come on tell me and I’ll stop asking questions.” Lydjah looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“You said something about apparation.” Lydjah said finally.

“Were we in the vision?” Lydjah glared at him. “I promise; last question.”

“Lee wasn’t.” She snapped. “Apparently she has more sense than the rest of us.”

“I have no idea what’s going on.” Lee said cheerfully. James and Sam laughed.

“I have visions of the future sometimes but mostly they’re just of people snogging left right and centre.” Lydjah explained. Lee nodded, as if this made sense in her perception of Lydjah.

“Cool.” Lydjah half-smiled but it slowly disappeared from her face as she watched another drop of the blood dripping from Jayna’s fingers hit the ground and realised they were currently stood exactly where the beginning of her vision had taken place.


	16. Of Rejections and Embarrassment (Strangely They're Not Linked)

The five of them thankfully reached the Hospital Wing without bumping into anyone else; though they all knew the story would be round the school by dinner. Madam Longbottom didn’t even look surprised to see them, just sad. She raised her eyebrows as she took Jayna’s vitals however.

“Someone gave her Dreamless Sleep potion?” Lee raised a bored hand, releasing the spell and letting Jayna fall onto a waiting bed, but Sam could see the muscles in her shoulder were taught. Madam Longbottom blinked at her, apparently not used to seeing Lee in the same room as their group but nodded. “Good call. If you need your supply replenishing then just come and see me.” Lee nodded. Sam’s eyes were burning with questions but Lee cleared her throat before she could ask them.

“Thanks. I’m going back to Ravenclaw tower to work on the Charms homework. Lydjah, you’ll tell me how she is later?” Lee asked, not looking at her girlfriend. Lydjah made a face at her that said she knew exactly what she was doing, but agreed anyway. With that, Lee left, gently extracting her hand from Sam’s.

“You have to have clearance to be able to just carry Dreamless sleep potion around with you right? Because you can overdose on it if you’re not careful?” Sam asked of the Matron. Madam Longbottom didn’t meet her eyes.

“Yes. It’s difficult to overdose on Dreamless Sleep potion, because of how quickly you go to sleep and how much you have to consume for it to even be a problem, but lots of wizards use it to commit suicide because it’s painless, which is why underage students are not allowed it without a prescription.”

“So Lee has a prescription?”

“You know that I can’t tell you the medical details of anybody without their permission or not under dire circumstances.” Sam snorted angrily, but let it drop when James placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lydjah was yet to let go of Jayna’s hand.

Madam Longbottom cast a quick antiseptic spell on the wounds on Jayna’s fingers that had stopped bleeding a while back. She cleaned Jayna’s free hand carefully and wasn’t surprised when Lydjah grabbed the cloth off her to do the other.

“What happened?” The nurse asked finally. James shrugged, sighing.

“She touched this pair of socks I’d bought her, from Gladrags, grabbed a weird box out of her pocket-” James started.

“Healer Clearwater’s box.” Lydjah clarified. “She stunned herself but it didn’t work; her fit happened anyway.” Madam Longbottom nodded slowly.

“That’s what I thought; the stunning spell is too violent to calm her mind. That’s why Dreamless Sleep potion works, but that doesn’t.” She huffed a breath. “There’s got to be a better solution than just letting her wander around and hurt herself.” She muttered. “She really doesn’t want to go to St Mungos. Maybe I can convince her to go in the holidays. I’ll see what she says when she wakes up. She’ll be out until dinner I would guess.”

“I’m staying.” Lydjah said simply. James and Sam shared a look and shrugged, pulling two chairs up to the other side of her bed.

“I’m going to write up her case and owl it to Healer Clearwater.” Madam Longbottom said.

“You know her?” Lydjah asked. Neville’s wife quirked a smile.

“Saved her life during the Battle of Hogwarts.” With no small amount of pride at the impressed looks on their faces, the matron disappeared into her office.

 

Jayna’s head hurt. Also her ankle. And her throat was sore again. She screwed up her eyes and blinked them open, not looking hopeful.

“Hey.” Lydjah said gently, from her right. Her face swam into focus, along with James and Sam’s. Scorpius stood at the foot of her bed carrying something that smelled heavenly and she sat up with a small amount of dignity.

“What happened this time?” She croaked. They all chuckled and Scorpius carefully passed a tray full of food over to her. She glugged down the glass of water eagerly.

“You touched some socks? And then had another fit.”

“In the middle of the pub?” Jayna sighed, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. “Great.”

“Yeah.” Lydjah said apologetically. “The spell box didn’t work.”

“Wait; I touched some socks?” Jayna backtracked.

“I’m guessing the nightmare you had wasn’t anything to do with them?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“See! I told you it wasn’t me!” James said triumphantly. Jayna frowned. “What was it about?”

“What were the socks made out of?” She asked.

“I don’t know- wool?” Jayna nodded, her eyes unfocused.

“It started with my face in my father’s jumper which I’m guessing was probably the same material.”

“You father was involved in the torturing as well?!” James worried, knowing how much Jayna admired him. Jayna shook her head, willing tears not to well up.

“No. He wasn’t in it. I’d just worn his jumper because I was sca- Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You promised that you would let us in.” Lydjah pointed out gently.

“I promised that if it was getting too much or I was scared then I would tell you. I’m not scared from that last memory, and it didn’t tell me much more about my grandfather’s plans.”

“Then why don’t you want to talk about it?” James questioned.

“Because my father is dead and I don’t even have that stupid jumper to remember him by.” Jayna snapped back, angry at being prodded. “I appreciate you staying here, I really do, and for the food and everything but for Merlin’s sake would you kindly _fuck off_ now?” Her friends flinched back, a little hurt. Jayna turned her face into the pillow, hoping they’d take the hint.

Slowly, one by one, they left the wing. All of them had come closer to Jayna in the past year, but it was times like this when they realised they could never come close to understanding her grief.

Jayna waited until she heard the great wooden doors slam shut before letting the sobs out, curling into a ball and gasping every time the memory played itself again in her head, both because of the hot white burst of pain that accompanied it and also the way her heart seemed to be ripping down the middle.

_Dad says I look like I’m hibernating in this jumper. I like to pull it up over my chin, and lose my hands and knees in the fabric. When I sit down, I can make my feet disappear too. It’s like being wrapped in one of dad’s hugs, but all day long. I don’t tell him this of course, but I like wearing his jumper because it smells like him; like warmth, like comfort, like home._

_I go down to the basement tonight. I feel like I’ve done it before, but the more I think about it, the further away the memories seem. I don’t know why I’m going, but I know I’m going to. I have to, even though it makes me feel like running away. The basement always makes me feel like running away._

_My feet patter down the stairs and as I pull the jumper tighter I hear another of dad’s huge snores from the floor above, and it’s almost enough to make me smile. I’m going to miss him when I go to Hogwarts. I miss Cara like crazy when she goes, but at least dad’s home. I don’t like that I have to swap one for the other except on holidays. I’ll miss mum and Aleron and Devin too, but I can write to them. Dad can’t write me a hug._

_I wish that I’d put on socks as my bare feet touch the icy cold of the final staircase, but it’s too late now. I shake my hand out of my sleeve to grab the doorknob and fall to the ground as it all comes rushing back. The pain, the terror, the endless amount of information to absorb and grandfather’s terrible, terrible Secret._

_I try to scramble back up the stairs but my step-grandmother’s already seen me from inside, and she picks me up with a hand over my mouth with practiced grace. She kicks the basement door closed behind her and I stop struggling. It’s too late. Last time I tried to run I just dragged someone else down with me. I’m helpless and stupid and really quite cold and all I want,_ all I want, _is for grandfather’s wand, the one he’s rolling on the desk behind him as he watches me being placed onto my usual chair, to snap in half, to break._

_My own is with me, something I carry all the time, almost an extension of my arm now, but it’s just as useless as me. The only things I know how to cast are what grandfather’s taught me, and everything else I do magically is both pure chance and completely rubbish, like shooting colourful bubbles into the air when I’m happy. I don’t want to anger grandfather. He’s scary when he’s angry. He’s always scary. But when he’s angry… When he’s angry I’d rather snap my wand and become a filthy Muggle than be anywhere near him._

_I do the only thing I can do; I tuck my feet into dad’s jumper to keep them warm, and meet grandfather’s stare._

_“Jayna.” I nod. “Do you know where your name came from?” I don’t frown; grandfather says showing emotions on our faces makes us easier to read than picture books, but in my head confusion is bursting like fireworks._

_“From France?” I guess finally. Grandfather almost smiles._

_“Yes. You ‘ave lived in England all your life, and talk zis language like it is your own, but you must remember zat you are a Blackwood and your soul belongs to France. Your life is not going to be easy, little one, but it will be ‘onourable. ‘Onour is not somezing zat everybody possesses. Remember zat.” His words, while eloquent, do not make a lot of sense to me, but I nod anyway._

_“I will.”_

_“Tonight is a dark night. Dark nights call for dark magic.”_

_“But it was a dark night last time.” I point out, quietly. “Dark nights are common in England. And dark magic is not honourable.”_

_“All magic is ‘onourable Jayna. It is what makes wizards more ‘onourable zan ze cleanest Moldu could ever ‘ope to be. Dark magic is ze most ‘onourable of zem all.”_

_“Just because it’s the oldest it doesn’t make it the best.” Grandfather bristles at my words, but his eyes don’t have the same glazed look that means he’s going to punish me for my insolence. Yet._

_“Age is knowledge and knowledge is power. Everybody knows zis.”_

_“Mum says that age makes people stupid and that some people learn less in a lifetime than others learn in a week.”_

_“Your mozer is not a Blackwood. She does not understand.”_

_“Mum understands everything.” I yelp as he slashes viciously with his wand, and a deep cut appears across my hand. Grandmother puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and his eyes narrow in irritation. I feel tears well up and fall down my cheeks, no matter how much I try to keep them back._

_“You’re wrong. Your mozer is a fool and your fazer a disappointment.” I flinch back from his words._

_“Why do you bother with me then, surely the daughter of a fool and a disappointment isn’t worth much.” His wand-tip is hot under my chin, and my skin begins to burn and he presses it deeper into my throat._

_“For one so clever you can never keep your mouz shut.” I whimper as my flesh burns hotter. “No-one is worzy of carrying ze name zat you do, but I’m sure she’d like your passion.” He moves his wand away with a grunt and I sob out a breath._

_“Whose name do I carry?” I say finally, knowing he wants me to ask. Grandfather never speaks about anything he doesn’t want me to question. It’s just how I pose the questions that he gets angry about. My grandmother flinches and moves away from him to the back of the room, as if she doesn’t want to hear the answer._

_“Ze person who started zis organisation. Your grandmozer.”_

_“Elenore?” I ask, confused, referring to his ex-wife. He scowls._

_“No, not zat simpering pest of a woman. Your fazer’s true mozer.”_

_“Does he know?” The wheels spin in my hand, and I hate to admit the first one is relief that I don’t share blood with Elenore. There’s a reason I don’t call her ‘grandma’._

_“Not even Elenore knows; a_ confundus _charm here and zere and it was almost too easy to make her zink Devin Luca was her own.”_

_“Anton and Christophe?” He rolls his eyes._

_“Zey are Elenore’s.”_

_“So my grandmother is called Jayna?”_

_“Jayna Marjolaine Blackwood I. And she’s dead.”_

_“Oh. Why?” For a second a hint of surprise shows on his features that I would dare to ask such a blunt question._

_“Ze filzy Sang de Bourbes turned on ‘er. Your grandparents I believe.” Normally it was impolite to say ‘what’ but I was so confused._

_“What?”_

_“Your ozer grandparents. Your mozer’s.”_

_“They’ve been missing for years.”_

_“Zey’ve been_ ‘iding _for years. Because zey know I’ll kill zem when I find zem.” I didn’t know what to do with this information. My head span sickeningly._

_“You joined the Nightwatchers because you loved her?” It takes me a second to realise it was me who had spoken. I brace myself for pain, but when I open my eyes grandfather looks like I’m the one to have hit him round the head._

_“I joined because I believed in ze cause.” He says coldly, but then something snaps. “I_ stayed _because I loved ‘er.”_

 _“Wait how did you convince Elenore with a simple_ Confundus _charm that she’d had a child that was two years old?”_

_“Pardon?”_

_“There are two years between my dad and uncle Anton.”_

_“I married Elenore straight out of school. It was expected. I couldn’t marry Jayna, zough I knew ‘er zen.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“It’s generally frowned upon to marry your cousins in zis day and age.”_

_“My grandmother was also your cousin?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Ew.” Grandfather healed my hand, apparently not realising I had spoken._

_“Jayna became pregnant and was murdered wizin days of having your father. I’d been planning on leaving Elenore once Devin Luca was born but I couldn’t disgrace ze family name. I told my parents Elenore ‘ad insisted on keeping it a secret because she was so sick zroughout ze entire pregnancy zat she was worried about miscarriages, and tricked Elenore into going along wiz everyzing. Anton and Christophe were born in due course and later on we moved to England on instructions to gazer more numbers for our cause and to find ze Secret. Elenore and I split just before your parents married, and I met Heather when she was transferred over from France a year later.”_

_“So who’s the leader of the Nightwatchers now?” I say, finally. I have sympathy for my grandfather. I also hate him more than I can physically put into words._

_“Who knows? Jayna tasked me with finding ze Secret for ‘er. I zought it only fitting zat Jayna should ‘elp me do zat.”_

_“‘Who knows’? You’re-_ we _’re risking our lives and freedom for who knows?”_

_“I don’t care who our leader is. What’s important is we find ze Secret, and use it to get justice.”_

_“Why are you telling me all this?”_

_“For two reasons. You’re right; I’m risking my life. You never know what of ze past is going to come in ‘andy if I’m not around to give it. And secondly, you won’t remember any of zis in ze morning.”_

_“Dad deserves to know all this.”_

_“My son married ze daughter of ‘is mozer’s murderers. ‘E deserves nozing.”_

_“He didn’t know mum was their daughter. He doesn’t even know his mother was murdered! And besides; this is an organisation that’s hunting down Mudbloods. You can hardly blame them for killing the leader.” I point out, logically._

_Grandfather doesn’t move for a moment, and I’m hopeful that I’ve made him have some kind of epiphany, but then he looks up, his eyes burning brighter than any wand ever could, rage and disgust boring holes into my skin. I know, seconds before his wand rises, that I might have just made the mistake that will cost my sanity._

_“You will not speak a word of anyzing I ‘ave told you tonight, whezer you remember it or not. You will come back tomorrow at ze same time, assuming you can walk.” He smiles and I realise all the other times I was only touching on the well of anger. Now… Tears start to run down my face and I step off the chair, trying desperately to grab the wand out of his hands before he can use it, knowing I’ll never make it in time. My jumper sleeve snags on the chair and I take a deep breath in of my dad’s smell as the jet of light comes rushing towards me._ “Crucio!”

_“STOP!” I’m screaming, on the ground, the world nothing but agony upon agony. “STOP! STOP IT PLEASE! PLEASE STOP! I WON’T! I WON’T TELL! GRANDFATHER PLEASE!” I try to reach up to claw out my own throat; anything, anything to stop this pain, but grandmother’s hands pin mine down before I can. “PLEASE! GRANDMOTHER DON’T! DON’T LET HIM PLEASE! PLEASE! STOP! HELP! HELP! PLEASE! MUM! MUM! HELP! DAD! PLEASE STOP! CARA! PLEASE SOMEBODY! STOP! I WON’T TELL, I WON’T TELL! PLEASE-”_

“Obliviate!” _Grandmother’s voice cuts through the daggers that are piercing my skin…_

_I’m in my bedroom. It’s freezing, still, even though I’ve been under the quilt for hours. I snuggle dad’s jumper closer around me but I flinch when it goes over my chin. I have some kind of friction burn there. I get these all the time, but they’re not usually on my throat. Mum thinks I sleepwalk, but surely Cara would wake up if I kept wandering out of bed at all hours. I close my eyes and sooner than I thought sleep carries me away…_

Jayna pulled the Hospital Wing sheets around her and wept, for her family, for the secrets she didn’t want to know and for herself, for what she’d been through, for what she still had to face. She just wanted to sleep…

 

The next day the eight of them were stood outside the door to the Secret. Jayna was still subdued, but at least she’d left the Hospital Wing. She’d spent the afternoon arguing fiercely against going to St Mungos and the nurse had finally relented, but on the condition that if Jayna’s next fit ended in even the slightest injury she’d be flooed there before she could blink.

‘ _Instruction: Open it_ ’ was the only message the Guardian had left them, and with a sigh they all traipsed through. While they knew it was probably trying to lure them into a false sense of security, the tasks at the moment were so easy that one person could be doing them.

In the centre of the absolutely ordinary looking room, there was a chest. Sam made her way over to it lazily, and tried to lift the lid. It didn’t budge, not that she was surprised.

“We’ve already used _Alohomora_.” Sam complained, looking back at the others. Lydjah rolled her eyes and made her way over.

“ _Cistem Aperio_!” The chest swung open with a click. They all half-heartedly readied themselves, but there wasn’t anything in it.

“At least we worked out your research thing was a good idea.” Scorpius said, uncharacteristically kindly to Jayna. Jayna managed a half-smile, but none of them were surprised when she took off without a goodbye as soon as they’d all made it outside.

Lydjah sighed, running a hand through her long hair.

“Is it some kind of anniversary for one of her family members?” Molly asked. Lydjah shook her head.

“Not that I know of. She’s just… I think sometimes it hits her you know? That she’s never going to see them again. She tries to forget about it most of the time, likes to look at the facts instead of her feelings. She thinks as long as she’s accepted they’re dead she should be fine, because that’s the fifth stage of grief or something. But I’m pretty sure you have to go through the other five stages for that to work. Denial, depression and acceptance she’s got down; she denied it the first day, then spent three weeks not speaking or eating or even moving and then she decided they were dead and she thinks she should be over it, and gets cross at herself when she’s not. She doesn’t like to talk about it for that reason; because I think she’s convinced everyone’s going to think she’s weak. And all the stress of this Secret and her nightmares and her school work and her sister isn’t exactly helping.”

“What are the other stages she has to go through?” James asked cautiously, after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“Anger and… Bargaining?”

“She gets angry a lot.” Sam said.

“No she gets annoyed a lot. Besides it’s not that she’s not angry enough, it’s that she’s not angry at her family.”

“I think she’s plenty angry at her scum of her grandfather.” Scorpius pointed out. Lydjah looked at him.

“No she’s terrified of him. And I think she has to be angry at her family for dying to pass that stage.”

“That’s a weird stage to go through.” Lien said curiously.

“Not really. It’s pretty natural for you to be angry at someone for abandoning you, even if you know it’s not their fault.” The others conceded to this point. Lydjah closed her eyes for a long moment. “I hate that she’s the only one who can help herself. It’s all up to her. We can only support.”

 

James Potter generally didn’t like to be worried. It put a damper on his mood, made him unfocused and uncreative when it came to doing anything fun. He’d been worried about Jayna for two days now, and frankly he was sick of it. He needed a distraction. And when James needed a distraction, it meant he needed a girlfriend.

“Hey, Isla!” He called across the common room. Isla Odell looked over to see who was calling her. Seeing James she quickly left Violet and Lancelot (how did he get in here anyway?) and made her way over.

“Hey James.”

“You fancy going out with me?” He asked, confidently but not arrogantly, a line he only didn’t cross when it came to asking girls out.

“I’m really sorry James but no.” Isla prepared herself with a handful of meaningless reasons when he asked why, only to be pleasantly surprised when James spoke.

“Ok, cool. Do you know if Olivia would be interested?” Without that exact tone of voice, Isla probably would have turned away in disgust, but it was clear that James wasn’t going to ask Olivia out for a show-her-what-you’re-missing display. He just wanted someone to hang-out with who’d be up for snogging sometimes because he didn’t have a particular interest in anyone and to be honest, that was ok. There was nothing wrong with that; it was why she’d gone out with Isaac, that and she felt like she should. But she didn’t have to, and, unlike Isaac, James seemed to be the kind of guy who respected that. Sure he was probably surprised that she’d said no, especially if Sam had told him all the giggling they did over his hair, but he wasn’t going to question it, and he wasn’t going to hold her rejection against her. She could see why Jayna fancied him, even if she wouldn’t admit it. That was why she’d rejected his proposal of course, though she was sure that telling either of them the real reason would result in chaos.

“Sorry James, she’s going out with Malcolm.” James fake-pouted with a laugh.

“I’m just not having a good day.” She laughed with him.

“I think Yasmin Avninder likes you, and I know she’s single.” She said finally, hating to be throwing him into the arms of someone who wasn’t her love-sick friend, but she also knew that neither of them were ready for that day. Yet.

“The Hufflepuff?” That was another thing she liked about James; he knew everyone, didn’t hold anyone beneath him, even if he didn’t hold anyone above him either. Except perhaps Sam.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks Isla. See you around.” James got up off the couch and sauntered over to the portrait hole. He found Yasmin in a matter of minutes (the Marauder’s Map was _really_ useful) and successfully asked her out, though she looked a bit disappointed when he said he wasn’t Indian.

 

_‘Instruction: It’s broken’._

“I swear the Guardian is just getting lazy now.” Sam announced as they once again wandered into the room. The room was exactly the same, but instead of a chest a crumpled up tent sat in the middle of the floor. “ _Reparo_!” She flicked her wand lazily and the small rips they could see from broken poles mended as the poles straightened up again.

Albus had barely even made it into the room by the time she fixed it, but when he tried to turn the doorknob to let them out again, there wasn’t one.

“Maybe we have to put it up?” He guessed after he announced this news.

“How? The floor is going to be rather hard to put pegs through.” Lien asked. Sam nodded in agreement, while the others looked baffled.

“You put your tents up by hand?” James asked, looking horrified. “Please tell me no-one else does that.” Sam raised a hand.

“I’ve never been camping.” Scorpius said. Jayna nodded lightly in agreement.

“But you’ve been to the Quidditch World Cup before!” Scorpius shrugged.

“We apparated home in the evening.”

“Anywho; who’s doing the spell?” Sam asked. “Because there’s no way we can put it up by ourselves.”

“ _Erecto_!” Lydjah said, in a bored tone. The tent flew up and stayed there, the doorknob thankfully reappearing next to Albus’ hand. There was a moment of pleased silence, broken by Jayna’s quiet sniggers. They turned to her in shock; it was the most emotion she’d shown in the past week.

“I’m sorry but ‘erecto’?” She said finally. Lydjah and James joined in her giggling.

“You dirty minded idiot.” James snorted. The rest of them finally caught on, and relieved wry smiles and a few more sniggers made the heavy cloud over their friendship finally dissipate.


	17. Of Frankly Terrible First Dates and Dark Spells

_31 years ago_

_Celina Daviau was a mixture of confused, upset and hopeful as she hectically double-checked her outfit for the date for the tenth time. Ivonne and Mae were laughing at her, but she didn’t care. She still couldn’t believe she’d asked Devin Luca Blackwood III on a date._

_Neither could her friends, come to think of it, though they’d reluctantly kept their word not to tell anybody about it. She’d asked the same of Luca, and hoped that he’d done as she said, because otherwise her parents might just murder her. She wanted to see if she’d made a huge mistake first, before facing their disappointment._

_“Come on Celina, if it goes badly, it goes badly, there's no reason to be so worried." Mae said, grinning. Celina huffed but didn’t reply, not wanting to voice the real reason behind her franticness, not even to herself._

_Celina Daviau, the calmest, wittiest and possibly prettiest girl in the whole of Beauxbatons was excited._

_God it was embarrassing._

_“What's embarrassing?” She hadn’t realised that she’d left her room, or that she was muttering to herself. Luca stared up at her from the bottom of the stairs, dressed is casually fancy dress robes, with a small smile. “You look amazing by the way.” Celina fought to keep the blush from her face, descending the stairs._

_“Nothing I was just talking to myself.” Luca smirked, but she could tell he was nervous by the way his hands were fidgeting anxiously with his robes. “You don't look too bad yourself. Shall we?”_

_She was very glad that the last two years in school were allowed to visit the village whenever they liked, provided they were back by ten and they didn’t bring anyone younger with them. It made it much easier to go on dates, not that Celina had been on that many (she was rather picky) and she was less likely to get doubly punished by her parents and the school for breaking the rules._

_She took Luca’s hand in her own, hiding a smile at his startled expression, and apparated them to her favourite restaurant._

_“No way; I love coming here.” Luca grinned._

_“I never see you here when I come.” Celina pointed out, as they walked towards the doors. Luca looked down at his feet._

_“I usually come here with my father and he only comes after hours.”_

_“He only goes to closed restaurants?” Celina asked, incredulous._

_“They're open for him.” Luca said with a shrug. Celina rolled her eyes._

_“Why does he only want to go to eat after hours?” Luca shrugged again, as they were seated by a slightly-too-happy waitress. They ordered their drinks (a butterbeer and a small glass of nettle wine (Celina’s eyebrows told him this was a rather pretentious choice but he really liked it)) and their food (which would be along as soon as possible)._

_“He's not much of a people person."_

_"Like father like son then?" Celina guessed, a kind smile on her face._

_“What?"_

_"Come on Luca, you only ever hang out with your brothers and you're not in any clubs." Luca shifted uncomfortably._

_“I didn't know I was being watched so closely." He said eventually, but the teasing tone fell a little flat. Celina still took the bait._

_“I'm not a_ stalker, _just observant. I'm sure you know plenty about me too.” Luca smiled again, and it lit up his whole face. She had to admit, the way that his dark hair fell into his eyes only brought out the vivid green and blue colours in them. She hadn’t really noticed before but… Luca was handsome. Very handsome, if unconventionally so. And tall. His brother Anton towered over him, but when they weren’t stood together it was easy to see that he was well over six foot. And he was lean and when he smiled at something you said, he made sure to look right at you, so that you’d know it was because of you._

_“Perhaps. But only what everyone knows; you're clever and popular and witty and fun, your parents teach here, you have two best friends and you hate Herbology.” Celina did blush this time._

_“That's a lot of compliments."_

_“That's a lot of truths." Luca said quietly. “I really like you Celina, but I don't actually know you that well.” Celina gave him a measured look._

_“I want to be a lawyer. I like animals, but I'm allergic to most of them. My parents are religious. I've always wanted to learn English and I snore very loudly.” Luca burst out laughing, the sound rather rich, and the way it contorted his face made her join in. When their laughter had calmed down slightly, their conversation was interrupted by their drinks being brought over, and Luca took a long sip before replying._

_“I have no idea what I want to be, but I think of this as rather a good thing because I have to take over the family business at some point anyway.”_

_“What is your family business?” Celina asked._

_“I mean the properties. And the investments. It's not really a job as long as you keep an eye on it.” Luca replied, quoting his father. Celina pulled a face but didn’t comment. “It's rather disgusting isn't it? That we have all this money that I have no idea what to do with it, and I could pursue any career I wanted because of it, but I don't know what I want to do. I have all the options and none of the brain power.” He said, with a small smile to ease the weight of his words. Celina shook her head._

_“It's not fault you were born into money, no more than it is your fault that at age 16 you don't know what you want to do with your life. That's seems fine to me.” Luca’s smile grew as Celina sipped her drink._

_“I only like nice animals. Not bears or anything.” Celina snorted and some of her butterbeer sprayed halfway across the table. Her cheeks heated but before she could apologise Luca had leapt back into his infectious laughter and Celina didn’t feel quite so much like an embarrassment to the entirety of Wizarding kind. “If I'd known 'bears' was going to cause that reaction I would've said it earlier.” Celina hit his hand teasingly and rolled her eyes with a smile when his hand snaked around hers and kept hold of it._

_“Go on, tell me more. I'll try to keep my extreme reactions to a minimum.”_

_“I am severely socially awkward, which is why I stick with my brothers, and I, too, snore very loudly.” Celina smiled._

_“You are a very strange person, Luca Blackwood.”_

_“Blame it on my family.” Luca said, tracing circles on her wrist._

_“I'm guessing you and your dad don't get along.” Luca gave her a strange look. “It's just, you seem like a really great guy and he's…” Luca raised an eyebrow. “You know. Shady.”_

_“'Shady’?” He chuckled._

_“Well my parents say that he's backing against the bill changing the status on Blood Purity.”_

_“The one that's rippling over from England? Well it is going to be kind of confusing.”_

_“Well it might take some getting used to but it's a step in the right direction for Muggleborn rights. Just because both of my sets of grandparents are Muggles doesn't mean I'm any less of a wizard than you.”_

_“Well; considering you're a witch-” Luca tried to joke._

_“Please tell me you'd vote for the bill.”_

_“I don't know what I'd do. I've never thought about it.”_

_“It's common sense! Equality is something we're still striving for. For Muggleborns and their descendants, for women, for Squibs-”_

_“Squibs? What have you got in common with a Squib?” Luca asked incredulously._

_“Just because I don't have anything in common with a Squib doesn't mean I can't defend their rights too. It's like defending animal rights.”_

_“So you're saying Squibs are like animals?”_

_“No! Is that what you think?” Luca squirmed._

_"I don't really know any.” Celina’s eyes widened in disbelief._

_“And that makes a difference how? They're human beings!”_

_“But there's something wrong with their genetics right? That's why they came out as magicless.”_

_“Are you saying there's something wrong with being magicless?” She snatched her hand from his._

_“I mean it would be pretty disappointing for the parents-” Celina’s nostrils flared, and faster than he could follow, she poured her bottle of Butterbeer over his head. A stunned silence rang throughout the restaurant._

_“Think about what you said and perhaps come and find this less magical than your_ esteemed _self witch when you've worked out how to get your head out from between your arse cheeks!” Celina stormed out of the restaurant, fire dancing in her eyes._

_Luca realised, as he sat there, dripping in Butterbeer and ignoring the other customers curious looks, that he wanted to marry that ‘less-magical-than-his-esteemed-self-witch’, even if it was the last thing he did._

 

“Today class, we will be learning about the disarming charm. Can anybody tell me the incantation?” Professor Rossesson’s light voice spread across the classroom, mostly halting the mumbled chats between the second-years. Albus was not surprised to see almost every hand up in the air; one couldn’t properly re-enact Harry Potter’s many duels with Voldemort in the courtyard if they didn’t know the incantation for his favourite spell. “Mr Potter?” Scorpius raised his eyebrow; Albus was one of the only people who hadn’t put his hand up.

“Yes sir?”

“You don’t know the incantation?”

“I do I just don’t often contribute to class discussion sir.” Albus said honestly. Professor Rossesson frowned at him.

“That’s not a great attitude to have.” He said disapprovingly.

“I can tell you the answer if you want sir.” Albus said, baffled. Professor Rossesson waved a hand to continue. “It’s _Expelliarmus_.”

“Correct. Five points to Slytherin.” Albus smiled uncertainly. “We only study the theory in this class as you will be doing the practical in Defence Against the Dark Arts.” There were a few half-hearted groans.

The class dragged on, with much useless note-taking and rolled-eyes. It wasn’t that Professor Rossesson was a bad teacher, only he was so meticulous and pernickety that it always took them two classes to do one spell, and Albus could feel his brain melting from all the irrelevant, if interesting, information the Charms professor was giving them around the subject. Scorpius told Albus to wake him up when the class had finished, and then turned his head away so Albus couldn’t see him staring at a certain bushy-haired redhead.

He was quite happy like this, until Rose turned around and caught his eye, at which point he realised what he was doing and went bright red, hurriedly turning his face away. It was then that he realised he hadn’t properly dried his parchment before he’d laid his face on it; and his half-smudged notes were now imprinted on his face.  
Albus burst out laughing; trying to control his snorts from Professor Rossesson’s sharp gaze but it was to no avail. Every time he thought he had himself under control; he’d look at Scorpius’ offended face and start sniggering all over again. Scorpius hastily tried to wipe the ink from his cheek, staining his shirt sleeves in a way his mother would never forgive.

“Mr Potter would you care to enlighten all of us to your friend’s joke?” Albus held his breath to hold in his giggles and tried to keep a straight-face as he shook his head.

“Mr Malfoy?” Scorpius had no choice but to face the Professor, showing his blue cheek in all its mess. “Would you like to go to the bathroom to wash that off?” Scorpius smiled his ‘respectful-teacher’ smile and nodded, standing up from his seat, not risking glancing at Albus or the rest of the class before exiting the room. Rose covered her mouth with one hand to stop herself laughing, but Albus could see her eyes dancing with mirth.

Scorpius snuck back in with five minutes left to go and when Albus and Scorpius finally packed up their bags and left, it was to find the rest of their group waiting outside for them.

“Wanna come to the kitchens for tea with us?” Lydjah asked, as soon as they were in the doorway. Scorpius and Albus shared a look.

“Sure.” They chorused.

The spy had decided several years ago that all you needed to know about a person was present in their walk. He observed the eight laughing students as they wandered away from the Charms classroom with a careful eye.

James Potter strutted. He threw his shoulders back, spine straight, chin up; an easy swagger as he took uneven steps forwards. His legs were spread wide and his feet planted firmly on the ground as he moved. His wand was held loosely in one hand and the other was firmly inside his trouser pocket. His strut wasn’t entirely arrogant though, it was cocky as hell but, although he couldn’t see it, the spy knew James’ smile was being bounced down the corridor to everyone he passed.

Sam Andrews’ confidence was more contained. She took up less space than her best friend, being shorter and slimmer across but was no less proud. Her chin was up but her body was slumped. Many people would dismiss it as laziness but the spy knew better. Sam Andrews was one of the most active people in the school; so why would she slump? The reason was, of course, that hunkering down would save her precious seconds if she got into a fight; she was already half in a fight pose. It was a left-over habit from her purely muggle days as the Gryffindor hardly ever fought with just her fists now as she had no interest in detention anymore. Jinxing people was ten times easier to conceal. Unlike James, who thought that he was honour-bound to only have fair, visible duels, Sam thought that if she needed to fight with someone, and therefore that the person was being particularly annoying or wrong, they shouldn’t have the benefit of knowing when their attack was coming.

Lien Irby always walked like she was in a hurry mainly because she couldn’t keep up with most people if she walked at a normal pace. She took many quick steps to match only a few of her friends’ long strides. Her wand was not visibly on her person which meant that either she hadn’t adjusted to the magical way of life yet or she had too much trust in not being attacked. Given her house, the spy concluded it was the latter.

Molly Weasley walked like she had a purpose. She had somewhere to be, a specific amount of time and a limited number of steps to get there. She kept her head low, not for secrecy but so she could talk to her shorter best friend, and had her hands safely in her robes. She didn’t smile outwardly at other people; she did a polite nod and tight-lipped upturn of her lips at people she knew. The spy thought it fairly funny that the girl had been so upset with her friend Jayna the year before for acting so superior when really she, whether consciously or not, exuded that vibe herself.

Albus Potter was more inwardly centred. His shoulders were hunched and his hands were scrunched in his trouser pockets. He kept a sincere smile on his face at all times but seemed to always be surprised when people recognised him. The spy felt slightly bad for helping those who wanted to see this boy suffer; to be so famous and not have it go to his head at all, unlike his smirking older brother, took a much greater man than most. That being said, he kept his house colours on show proudly, despite everyone’s conflicting views on it, and his nose occasionally screwed in annoyance when he saw people glaring at the colours until they realised it was him, more because of the way their face cleared when they realised who it was than them frowning to start with.

Scorpius Malfoy had the most grace. His steps weren’t calculated or a particular speed or style. His movement was fluid, matching other people’s pace easily and without hesitation. It was impossible to decide how Scorpius would walk if he was on his own. The spy took this to mean that he was influenced heavily by other people, but he kept his own personality through his grace. He was a Pureblood, of that there was no doubt, and it was very easy to imagine him waltzing around a dancefloor, though any sort of modern dance was impossible. He held his wand in his hand like James but the way he gripped it was entirely different; where James held it loosely to feign bravado, Scorpius’ fingers curled elegantly but tightly round the wood. He had long fingers; the spy guessed he was an artist of a kind. His angular face always pointed up and was almost entirely blank when in public. The spy knew this boy was the most dangerous of the group; in a few years he would be entirely unreadable and as quick with his spells as he was with his tongue.  
Lydjah Dawson walked with ease. Like Lien, she had to take several steps just to match one of her best friend’s long strides, but she’d been doing it for so long now that she’d just adapted it into her normal pace. There was a slight swing in her hips as she moved, enough to gain people’s attention, but not enough for them to be able to explain why they were so captivated. She flicked her hair every third step, not in a vain way but just to keep the sheer amount of it away from her face. She had a strange resting expression; it seemed as if she was always filled with an emotion but you couldn’t tell which one it was until when, if ever, she decided to let you know.

Jayna Blackwood’s steps were strangely erratic. Her strides were always long and precisely calculated to where she wanted to step, which would be easy to read if she strode all the time. Unfortunately Jayna was a very expressive person, and it showed in everything she did from her hand gestures to her body language to her walk. She’d take skipping steps, quick, curt steps, huge bounding steps and undignified leaps to get to her destination, and she’d most likely do a very funny if not very good impression of someone else’s walk along the way. The only thing that kept the same through Jayna’s walk was her straight back and fluid arm movements (that did not extend to her hands) which was the only visible reminder of her Pureblood upbringing. She also always had her wand in her hand, alike James and Scorpius, but she didn’t grip it casually or elegantly; Jayna gripped her wand like a warning; perfect textbook hold to match the plethora of spells that constantly ran through her mind. She would be able to curse you just as well as she could heal you (perhaps better actually, considering her heritage) but when it came down to it the spy had no doubt Jayna would snap like a twig.

 

_‘Instruction: Trace back your steps’._

“What the Hell?” Sam asked, as they gathered round the paper as usual.

“It’s not the first time it’s had us trekking through the school trying to find it.” Lien pointed out, subtly moving away from the Gryffindors who still smelt disgusting from their Saturday Quidditch practice; it had run over so they didn’t have time to shower.

“Yeah but that was before the tasks started properly.” Lydjah said.

“Maybe we’ll have more clue when we get in there.” Albus sighed, opening the door. The others shrugged and followed, where they were once again led into a completely normal looking room with nothing in it at all.

“Any charms that allow you to go back?” James asked.

“We’re not time-travelling Potter.” Jayna said, alarmed.

“I think it might be simpler than that.” Scorpius said quietly. He held out his wand. “ _Prior Incantato_!”

From Scorpius’ wand, images were produced; a dazzling blaze of light, a curtain stitching itself back together and a strange, dark spell that smelled like burning. The door clicked open as the final image faded away, and Scorpius was gone before any of them could ask him what that last spell had been.


	18. Of Good Friends and Bad Impressions; Or Is It The Other Way Round?

Molly Weasley was not in a good mood. She had been, from waking up in her warm bed to choosing a matching outfit with Lien and all the way through her yummy breakfast until her father’s haughty owl had landed next to her toast and stuck its leg out for her to untie its letter.

_Molly,_

_Your mother disagrees but I really feel like we have to talk about this. To put it simply, I don’t think you should be friends with the Malfoy boy. His family are corrupt, and I should know considering how many times I saw Lucius with the Minister of Magic during my time as one of his PAs. Lien seems lovely and it’s nice that you’ve made friends with people outside your house but everyone’s true colours show in the end darling, and I know you’d rather not see Scorpius’. For that matter, the way you skirt around talking about Jayna Blackwood makes me think she didn’t fall too far from her family tree either._

_I only want you to be happy, and I don’t believe you can be with these sorts of people around you._

_Anyway, I hope your classes are going well and that the workload isn’t getting you down too badly. Lucy misses you I think._

_Love,_

_Dad_

“Mol? What’s up?” Lien asked, watching Molly’s expression sour. Molly glared at the letter in her hand.

“Nothing. My dad’s just being an idiot.” Molly looked up towards the Slytherin table, where she could see Albus laughing heartily as Scorpius balanced a spoon on his nose. How exactly her father thought Scorpius was a bad person was beyond her. She knew that whatever spell had come out of Scorpius’ wand the other day wasn’t nice, but she’d made the mistake of not trusting her friends last year, and it had almost cost her, her friendship with Jayna. Molly looked down at the letter again and then got to her feet, marching over to where Scorpius was sat.

“Hey Mol, what’s up?” He asked, as she came over.

“I don’t understand why people don’t like you.” Scorpius raised an eyebrow delicately.

“Generally I think they believe I’m destined to start a corrupt organisation that at best robs them and at worst leads to mass-murder.” Molly frowned at him.

“That’s stupid.”

“May I ask what has prompted this conversation?”

“My dad thinks I shouldn’t be friends with you. Or Jayna.”

“Really? How amusing. Are you planning on taking his advice?” Molly managed to keep a straight-face for a good two seconds before chortling.

“As if. Even if we didn’t share a Secret,” She said, wary of the people around them, “you’re a great friend. Plus you have excellent taste in Christmas presents so…” Molly winked. Scorpius smirked.

“I see how it is; keeping me around for the money.” Molly rolled her eyes with a smile.

 

The next task involved a huge boulder at one end of the room, and a finish line at the other. Sam and James immediately tried to shove it, while Jayna stared at the rock thoughtfully.

“Should I tell them to stop or-” Jayna asked, looking at Sam and James with amusement after telling Lydjah her plan.

“No.” Lydjah grinned. Jayna rolled her eyes but didn’t warn the Gryffindors before placing a feather light charm on the rock. Immediately the rock, under the pressure from Sam and James rolled forwards a few metres, and the Gryffindors fell face down on the floor with muffled groans of surprise and pain.

The others laughed themselves stupid for a few moments until they realised that they’d just injured the muscle of the group and the rock was still nowhere near the finish line.

“ _Winguardium Leviosa_!” Molly said proudly after a moment, concentrating on the rock so hard that Lien was worried her eyebrows would be forever stuck in a frown. She easily levitated the rock over the line considering its now tiny weight and the door unlocked itself again.

Sam and James went out the door bickering about who was stronger but Albus interrupted them.

“Come on Sam; James is cocky enough we don’t need another one.” James whacked Albus in the arm but Sam grinned mischievously.

“My impression of Dwp here would be great.” James raised his eyebrows.

“My impression of you would be better.” He challenged.

“Prove it. Me and you, tomorrow, we’ll act like each other all day. And these guys,” Sam said, gesturing to the other six, “will judge whose impression is the best.”

“You’re on mate.” James smirked. The other six surveyed them with varying degrees of alarm.

 

Lydjah and Jayna took their seats in Defence Against the Dark Arts near Sam and James with some trepidation. Sam was sat, slumped in her seat, one arm slung over the back of the chair, wand in hand, her legs spread wide apart and her spare hand messing with her hair which was loose for once, rolling over her shoulders. A slightly-too-big Gryffindor Quidditch jumper had been pulled over her shirt so that only the top of her collar was visible.

James had one of his legs resting on the other, so the upper leg formed a triangle with his ankle pointing down. He glared at all the girls that entered the classroom except for Jayna and Lydjah, to their horror. He sat up straight, tense, hands elegantly laid but fully braced on the desk in front of him. His shirt was untucked from his trousers haphazardly, quite like his hair that he hadn’t even attempted to control that morning but he actually had his tie on for once, even though it was draped round his shoulders.  
“You need to smirk Sam.” Was Jayna’s only comment.

“James you need to look more dangerous. At the moment you just look like you’re concentrating too hard.” Lydjah added, laughing. Sam attempted to smirk flirtily but it came out like a grimace. Lee from the seat in front turned with a raised eyebrow to eye-up her girlfriend. Sam tried desperately not to laugh.

“I’m super attractive and I have great hair and I’ll never tell anyone I love Transfiguration.” Sam said finally, lowering her voice and ruffling her hair. James punched her in the arm.  
“Well I’m too cool to smile properly and I’m always looking for a fight also did I mention that I automatically hate everyone?” James flung back. Sam rolled her eyes but let it go, her attempt at a flirty smirk growing.

“You’re just jealous of my great hair.”

“You already mentioned your hair.” James muttered.

“Exactly.” Sam winked. James huffed as Jayna and Lydia laughed. Sam turned to Lydjah. “I know my girlfriend’s right there, but I’m going to blatantly flirt with you anyway.” James sat up, offended.

“I do not- I mean I’m not even going to tell my best friend about my relationships until months afterward they started.” Lee looked at him.

“No need to make it personal.” Sam laughed.

“I’m never going to take my hand out of my hair unless I’m holding a Quaffle and even then I’ll try to do stupid reckless moves to impress people.”

“Well I’m going to hit the Bludgers with such ferocity that I end up hitting my teammate in the face with a bat.”

“That was one time!” Sam cried, glaring at him. Lydjah and Jayna cracked up laughing.

“Sam wins.” Lee said, with a small smile. “Now please go back to being yourself; I have no interest in ever going out with James.” James started, outraged, but the class had begun and he was left with sulking and muttering about how he’d beat her next time.

“I’ve been asked to inform you,” Professor Avisana began, “that anyone interested in doing an Exchange trip with a student from Beauxbatons this summer should go to Professor Babbling’s office at lunch.”

“You going to do it?” Sam asked quietly of her two Ravenclaw friends, already knowing there was no way in Hell James would want to go France unless there was a pretty girl involved. Jayna and Lydjah looked at each other, communicating non-verbally and then nodded.

“As long as Jay-Jay does the talking.” Jayna rolled her eyes but Lydjah could tell she was secretly pleased.

“Bien sûr.”

 

After class, the Ravenclaws were walking about to the Tower and Lydjah, being her usual blunt self, was frowning at Lee.

“Lee Wright doesn’t sound very African.” Lee looked up at her, raising her eyebrows. She huffed a sigh and, as she would insist to herself later, replied with the truth only because she felt guilty for overhearing their secrets.

“‘Lee’ is short for Lesedi. My Grandpa, who was English, used to call me Lee and it stuck. ‘Wright’ is my Mother’s maiden name; my Dad’s surname was more recognisable than I wanted to be.”

“Who’s your Dad?”

“He’s just about the only African you white people have ever heard of.”

“Babajide Akuring?” Jayna said, barely concealed surprise in her voice.

“Who’s that?” Lydjah asked, confused. Jayna swatted at her arm.

“He’s the Supreme Mugwump for the International Confederation of Wizards!” Jayna announced. Lydjah tried to hide a laugh but Lee saw and dredged up a rare smile.

“Yeah I know. It sounds ridiculous. Who wants to be a Mugwump?”

 

_Conjure a slug._

“What?” Molly asked as Jayna read out the latest instruction and they slunk into the Secret room.

“Why?” Lien seconded, sounding vaguely repulsed.

“We can’t use Transfiguration in here.” Sam mused. “How are we going to conjure a slug?” James smirked slowly.

“I know.”

“Well go on then.” Albus said, rolling his eyes.

“I can make someone vomit slugs for ten minutes.”

“Wait; what?” Scorpius interjected, evidently having come into the conversation slightly late.

“Sorry.” James said, sounding not even slightly sorry as his smirk grew. “I don’t see a better option. Who’s it going to be?”

“I don’t think you sound upset enough about this James Potter.” Molly reprimanded. Lydjah sighed.

“It’s alright I’m always puking my guts up anyway might as well make it slugs.” She stood in front of James, too tired to glare as she hadn’t really slept the night before. James felt a small twinge of guilt, but it wasn’t enough to stop his glee.

“ _Slugulus Eructo_!”

 

Lydjah barfing slugs was an image none of them were getting out of their minds for some time, which is why Scorpius suggested doing another task; hopefully something interesting would rid them of it. The fact that Lydjah was still vomiting slugs into a bucket wasn’t exactly helping, but they all agreed.

_Handwriting is everything._

When they walked into the room nothing appeared other than the note Scorpius was still holding. Quickly deciding that he couldn’t deal with the retching sounds from Lydjah’s corner of the room for any longer, he took a wild guess with a spell.

“ _Illegibilus_!”

For the second time in two weeks, Scorpius vanished out of the room again before any of them had time to protest (not that Lydia could if she had) and Albus had a sinking feeling that the older they got, the more this was going to happen.


	19. Of Teacups and Quidditch Matches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it is a lil confusing that people who seemed to be speaking perfect English suddenly have a thick French accent but bear in mind any French characters speaking perfect English are actually speaking French, I'm just not good enough at French to translate it.

In Alexis’ eyes, it had all started with a teacup.

His house-elf handed him his tea with a bow and he took it with a sigh, staring at his wife. Vafara Blackwood was, in all honesty, the best person he had ever met. She was quiet but sharp, she was beautiful, she liked him well enough and she thought that Mudbloods were scum. She’d moved to England with him without a word of complaint, and never nagged him about how he spent all his time. He didn’t know if she was good at hiding curiosity or simply didn’t care but it worked for him. He told her he was changing the world for them, perhaps slowly but it was happening, and that was good enough for her.

Sometimes, he thought she loved him.

They’d never had children. He supposed that he probably ought to have had some, thinking about it now, but his brother had three sons by the time Alexis met Vafara, and there wasn’t a chance that the Blackwood name wouldn’t be carried on. Now however, he was one of four people that held that last name Blackwood, and was in the company of a second. He was the only person who could pass the name on, but names get lost all the time. What mattered was the legacy attached to the name; would the name ‘Blackwood’ be remembered, even after it was extinct?

“What did you just say?” Vafara asked gently. He blinked, his musing over.

“Sorry.” He muttered, avoiding the question. He sipped his tea, and went back to his original thought.

A teacup was a funny way to start a war.

 

_50 years ago_

_“Alexis!” Alexis groaned as his brother’s voice dragged him from sleep. His brother was getting married in two weeks, to his disgust, and was insisting on spending every night until then going on grand adventures with his brother._

_“No!” He said back. Roland pulled the covers off him._

_“Shush!” He said sharply, when Alexis made a noise of protest. “We are going to an English festival.”_

_“Why, in Merlin's name, would I want to go to England?” Alexis said finally, his eyes still closed._

_“Come on Alexis! It'll be fun!” Without waiting for his brother’s response, he grabbed his elbow and disapparated._

_“I'm going to kill you!” Alexis shrieked, as well as he could with the wind completely knocked out of him from landing flat on his back in the middle of a field._

_“Sorry?” Roland tried. Alexis glared at him, and transfigured his clothing to something more sensible. He knew he wasn’t getting home till Roland wanted him to, and figured he’d better play along for now. “There is a fortuneteller here that Jayna told me to come and see.”_

_“Oh of course, if Jayna told you.” Jayna Marjolaine Blackwood I, his cousin, was the only person capable of making Roland do anything. She was always trying to get Roland to join her little cult. Alexis had to admit their aims were just; ridding the Wizarding World of filth, but how they planned to go about it was all over the place. It was a tiny group as well, and unless the world powers shifted dramatically, France was not the place to be enacting change. England maybe, or the USA, but not France. She had Roland hooked though, Alexis would hear him raving in his room about how it was his destiny to save the world, to change the views of those who had become relaxed and lazy._

_"What is that supposed to mean?" Alexis shrugged. They found the Fortune-Teller’s tent easily enough, and Roland pushed his way through the flaps without a second look. It was bigger on the inside, as was usual, but not many tents featured such an impressive array of complete crap. Decorative lights highlighted half-empty card packs and over-turned tables; crystal balls hung from the ceiling, from the lampshades; colourful drawings made entirely of glass painted bright colours on the floor. And in the centre of the chaos, the oldest woman Alexis had ever laid eyes upon was sat opposite two chairs, staring at him as if she could see him, despite the cloudiness that covered her eyes._

_“Two Blackwood brothers. It has been a while.” She chuckled, her tongue running over her lips greedily. Alexis scowled at the English, unable to understand, but Roland had always been interested in languages. “Tea?” Warily the two brothers sat opposite her, and accepted the teacups full of steaming liquid that she summoned with her wand. “Why have you come here, Roland Blackwood?”_

_“‘Ow do you know my name?” He asked, accent thick. She grinned, displaying a row of surprisingly straight white teeth._

_“I know a Blackwood by his footsteps. And then I guessed, from what I know of the current Blackwood family tree. The names get all confusing over time; I’m sure you get it.” She said, gesturing to Alexis. “Or you will anyway.” She mused. Alexis flinched, not knowing what she was saying about him._

_“You know our family?”_

_“I do, I did, I will. You know little, but it appears you know enough. Why are you here?”_

_“To know my future.” He said confidently._

_“Which one?” Asked the old woman. “The one you want or the one you will have?”_

_“Ze truz.” He said finally._

_“Well that is a difficult question indeed. I really do need to stop making it a habit.” With a flick, their teacups were back in her possession, and she flicked the tea out of them over her shoulder with distaste. She peered into Roland’s mug, looking unimpressed. “Roland Blackwood, your future holds death.”_

_Alexis shuddered involuntarily as a cold chill spilled into the tent. “Everyone dies.” Roland said cautiously. The woman raised an eyebrow delicately._

_“No they do not. For example, I have no intention of dying. I’ll outlive the both of you, that’s for sure. But for you, Roland, death will be unexpected, and unforgiving. He will take that which you care most about, but a good few that you do not.”_

_“Is zat all you can tell me? Zat deaz is nigh? Somezings are worz dying for.”_

_“So I’ve been told.” The woman mused, continuing to stare at his cup. “You will devote your life to a mystery you will never find, but it will be found, if not how you intended. Heartbreak is near and comfort is far. Your life holds little emotion, but there is determination, and there is anger. You will strike fear into the hearts of the people you preside over. Is this enough for you?”_

_“Zat was very vague.” He pointed out, shaken._

_“The future usually is. One more thing, Roland.”_

_“What?”_

_“He looks like you.”_

_“Alexis?” Roland asked, baffled. The two brothers shared a few similarities, but their physical appearance was hardly one of them. The woman didn’t reply and Roland left the tent with a shrug, already mentally composing a letter to Jayna in his head. Alexis stood up to leave as well, but the woman grabbed his hand as he turned, the teacups suddenly gone._

_“One day, you should tell her that you love her.”_

 

At the time Alexis had not understood what the woman had said, but with his grasp on English now, he knew what had had been spoken, just not what it had meant. Presumably his wife… But there was something about ‘One day’, as if it was specifically that day and not the next…

Alexis sipped his tea, and put the thoughts out of his mind.

 

Scorpius and Albus wandered over to the Quidditch pitch for the first game of the season wrapped head to toe in woolly clothing. Scorpius’ nose was bright red against his pale skin and he sipped from his coffee flask with half-closed eyes, occasionally needing to be quietly nudged by Albus to stop him wandering off the path. Neither of them were wearing Slytherin scarves for once; instead Scorpius was sporting a hand-knitted blue and silver scarf that ‘really brought out his eyes’ (a gift from Rose) and Albus was proudly bearing the dark green and gold Holyhead Harpies scarf he’d had since he was three.

Scorpius felt an arm slide round his shoulders and drag him closer to Albus and he almost spat out his coffee when he looked into Rose Weasley’s beaming face. He felt his cheeks heating and frowned miserably; only Rose could cause such a visible reaction.

“Good idea not bearing any house pride today guys.” Rose smiled mischeviously. In contrast to them, Rose had painted red and gold stripes on her cheeks, and tied her hair into tens of tiny plaits complete with gold bobbles that had little bells attached to them. Her ears were bright red from cold, and her eyes were watering slightly from the wind, but Scorpius couldn’t see past her impeccably bright teeth and smatters of freckles…

“Rosie you look ridiculous.” Albus laughed shrugging out from her other arm so they could continue walking. Rose pouted but didn’t pull her arm off Scorpius. He felt like melting into the ground as he realised she was slightly taller than him.

“Scorp; do you think I look ridiculous?” She laughed, shaking her head so the bells rang clearly. Scorpius couldn’t think straight; he didn’t know she smelled like fire. “You alright? You’re frowning awfully hard.”

Scorpius pushed her off him with a mostly-natural sounding laugh. “Just not looking forward to freezing to death for the sake of sport.”

“Oh you know you love it.” Rose teased. “You’re lucky; you can happily stare at everyone’s butts in Quidditch uniform… Half those butts belong to our cousins.” She said, poking Albus who laughed. Scorpius rolled his eyes but didn’t comment, knowing there was only one person’s butt he would be interested in staring at in Quidditch uniform.

“Nah his parents would gut him if he fell for a blood-traitor.” Albus winked with a laugh. Rose snickered and Scorpius managed his customary half-smile even as his stomach sank. Looked like his parents were going to have to find the filleting knife because Rose Weasley’s eyes when she laughed… He’d quite happily drown in them.

 

“I feel bad.” Jayna sighed, as her and Lydjah took their seats next to Rory (much to his delight).

“Why?” Lydjah inquired.

“I didn’t wish Sam and Potter good luck.”

“So? We don’t want them to have good luck. This is a Quidditch game.”

“Yeah but it’s their first match…”

“Well they’re going to be fine. Or they’d better be seeing as they’ve taken a lot of time off our _project_ to perfect their technique.”

“True.” Jayna sighed again.

“What now?”

“I’m worried about Sam and Lee.”

“What?”

“Well they’ve been acting a bit… Odd lately.”

“Have they?”

“Since the Hogsmeade trip where I-. Yeah. Did something happen?” Lydjah shrugged.

“Lee won’t tell Sam why she had Dreamless Sleep potion to give to you.”

“Oh.” There was a pause. “Why-”

“I don’t know why she had it either. Or why she goes by Wright or even by Lee instead of Lesedi. No clue. Or why she shaved all her hair off or why she never talks about Africa or why she doesn’t have any friends… You know I think I’m starting to realise what you meant when you said there was something wrong with her.” Jayna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Really? It’s taken you this long?”

“Anyway, why are you bothered about them? That’s their problem.”

“Because they’re my friends.”

“Well you don’t want your friends to be bothered about you.”

“What?”

“Oh come on Jayna. I’m supposed to just ignore that you’ve lost weight and you can’t concentrate on anything anymore, that you still wake up screaming at least once a night and you won’t tell me what it’s about and that you _still_ haven’t made up with your sister? Hell, I don’t think you’ve even accepted your family is dead yet-” Jayna blinked. “I’m sorry. That was too far.”

“It’s ok.” Jayna said quietly. They were quiet for a moment. Lydjah held her hand out. Jayna looked at it for a second before silently clasping it with her cold fingers and they sat like that, waiting for the match to start.

 

Molly and Lien waved Rose, Scorpius, Albus and Roxanne over from where they were sat. Lien was buzzing with excitement, her legs bouncing as she scanned the pitch again and again for any sign of movement.

“Lien you can’t cheer when they come out.” Molly said, amused as the others made their way over.

“What? Why not?”

“One, because the combined force of you, Roxanne and Rose screaming will deafen me, and two because we want Gryffindor to lose so that Hufflepuff has a chance.”

“But they won’t lose.” Molly laughed.

“I know. They never do.”

“Hey up losers.” Roxanne greeted, taking a seat next to Lien. Roxanne was not wearing any visible Gryffindor clothing, but she had, for once, taken the Ravenclaw tie she used to hold back her hair off her head. She hadn’t replaced the tie however, and so her hair was falling haphazardly into her eyes.

“Merlin Roxanne; your leg’s bleeding!” Lien yelped.

“Is it? Oh yeah so it is. Huh.”

“Are you not going to do anything?” Molly asked, bemused.

“Nah it’ll be fine. Must have walked into something on the way up.”

“You probably tripped over Scorpius’ obsession with our cousin.” Molly muttered. “Looks like it’s pretty huge.” Rose was speaking to Scorpius who was talking animatedly back, looking younger than they’d ever seen him. Roxanne pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

“Poor Albus. He hasn’t realised he’s third wheeling yet.” She mused, nodding her head at how Albus was joining in the conversation, despite how Rose’s body language was completely turned to Scorpius.

“It’s the first game of the season folks!” Lambert Adcock’s voice rang out of the stadium, startling everyone to their seats. He grinned toothily but sunnily out at everyone and they smiled back at the Hufflepuff as they realised they would no longer have to bear the commentary of Derrick Dabney. “Looks like a great day for it; I mean they won’t be cold once they actually get going. We’ve got a few new recruits this year, especially the Gryffindor team; let’s hope Green has managed to whip them into shape. Without further ado; it’s the Ravenclaw team!” They began to fly out to the excited yells from the left hand side of the pitch. “Chasers led by Quidditch Captain Nuttal, his first time competing as Captain against his long-time girlfriend and his final chance to win Ravenclaw the cup, Dominique Weasley and Goldstein! Beaters; Zabala and new recruit Wright!” Lee flew out onto the pitch behind Eoin Zabala and Lydjah and Jayna stopped cheering in shock. Her shaved head had been painted half blue and half bronze and her Quidditch uniform had no sleeves so that everyone could see her muscles flexing as she held her bat. She took her place on the pitch and grinned wickedly into the audience, looking more alive than they had ever seen her.

“Merlin…” Jayna breathed.

“I know.” Lydjah replied. “I think I may have just fallen in love with her a little bit.”

“Keeper; Finch-Fletchley and Seeker; Garcia!” Lambert finished as the Ravenclaw team took their positions. “And now the Gryffindors; Chasers also led by Quidditch Captain; Green, Louis Weasley and the one we’ve all been waiting to see play; POTTER!” If the Ravenclaws had been loud, the Gryffindors took it to a whole new level. They chanted James’ name like he’d already brought them victory. James thought his stomach was about to make an unwanted appearance in his mouth. Jayna frowned at the other side of the pitch even as she clapped for him, wondering why it bothered her so much to hear everyone say ‘Potter’. “Beaters; Fred Weasley and the second new recruit; Andrews! Let’s see how Phase Two does against Ravenclaw’s strong defence.” James and Sam shot him identical looks. “Oh come on; everyone knows Phase Two is you two. Anyway; Keeper, final new member of the team; Newport! And finally, last but not least, Seeker; Upton!”

Sam circled past James and tapped his outstretched knuckles with her bat for luck before zipping over to her position opposite Lee.

“You look hot.” She commented, hunching low over her broom, just waiting for the whistle to be blown.

“You too.” Lee smirked, switching her bat from hand to hand. Sam really wanted to kiss her. Instead she smirked back.

“Nice broom.”

“Just because Jayna bought you the fastest broom of this season doesn’t mean I can’t still out-fly you.”

“We’ll see.” Sam challenged.

The whistle blew and all Hell broke loose.

 

“So-” Jayna began, and then stopped herself.

“So.” Sam replied, wincing at her friend’s face.

“You thought the best way to stop your girlfriend was to flash the entire stadium?”

“James was worse.” Sam muttered.

“Potter stealing your bat and hitting his ex-girlfriend in the stomach with it was admittedly not his best move but at least he didn’t traumatise anyone!”

“I don’t know. April seems pretty traumatised.” Sam said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder to point at the Hospital Wing where April was lying, clutching her stomach and groaning.

“He didn’t even hit her that hard.” Jayna dismissed.

“He should have. She sabotaged our entire game just to get back at James for ‘moving on so soon’.” Jayna rolled her eyes.

“So April stops Potter from scoring a goal, he steals your bat to hit her, you realise you no longer have a bat so you flash Lee to stop her from hitting anything either and Kami Garcia catches the snitch for Ravenclaw… Well I suppose I should be thanking you and Potter for fucking up so brilliantly that Ravenclaw managed to win.”

“Only by a few points.”

“Are you still on the team?”

“Green’s pissed but James scored more goals than her and Louis together and I saved her from a Bludger more than once. I think she’s going to train us and our reserves together for the next game, and decide who’s going to play then. April’s fucked though.”

“Good.” Jayna muttered and Sam laughed, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

The gargoyle started to move and Sam sighed, pushing away from the wall where they were leaning. “Right. Well thanks for keeping me company.”

“No problem.” Jayna grinned. “It’s not often two of my best friends end up in the Headmistress’ office in one day.” James stepped off the gargoyle looking slightly downtrodden.

“She’s a master of the guilt trip.” James warned Sam, as she stepped on the gargoyle. Sam saluted in response.

“Come on Potter let’s get you some ice cream.” Jayna said, grabbing his arm and tugging her with him to the kitchens where she suspected the rest of their friends already were.

 

“Jay?” Jayna looked up to see Cara cautiously looking around the wall to where Jayna was sat in the abandoned courtyard, holding the letter telling her to meet her there.

“Happy Birthday.” Jayna said, after a moment.

“Thank you.” Jayna wasn’t sure which one of them moved first but they were hugging like their lives depended on it, Jayna wasn’t sure they didn’t, and suddenly Jayna felt like smiling.

“I’m sorry for abandoning you at the funeral. I was just scared of what I’d… Become.”

“What does that mean?” Cara asked, confused but not angry anymore.

“You know that I’m cool with Muggleborns and Blood-Traitors and everything now. I was worried that if I stayed with you I’d become angry at everything, the world, for the accident.”

“Like I did?” Cara asked softly. Jayna nodded, unable to look at her. Cara paused. “Fair enough.” She said eventually, neither excusing her actions nor condemning Jayna’s.

“I’m sorry for stopping you from going to the will reading.”

“It’s ok.” Jayna said, a small smile on her lips. “I… I haven’t worked through it yet. The… Grief. I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment and I just don’t have the time-”

“You look ill Jay. Like really ill. I’m worried about you.”

“Thanks.” Jayna said sarcastically. “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think I am in a great place to be understanding right now, and I think I need to work through it without someone who’s as close to the situation as me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you in my life right now… In fact; I don’t think I could stand it if you weren’t.” Cara smiled, and tucked a strand of hair behind Jayna’s ear just like she used to.

“Ok.” She replied, simply, and Jayna threw her arms round her again. “Now where’s my present?”


	20. Of Trust and Sand

“You’re looking happier.” Isla commented as Jayna sat down next to her. Lydjah, unsurprisingly, was skipping the class again. Jayna shrugged, putting her bag down and rolling up the sleeves of her robe.

“I made up with my sister. Not wholly but,” Jayna attempted a smile, “It’s a starting point.” Isla smiled back.

“Glad to hear it.” She paused before saying delicately. “I don’t mean to be blunt Jayna but you do still look rather ill though.”

“I know. I- Madam Pomfrey wants me to go to St Mungos.” Jayna said, keeping her voice low. Isla blinked.

“It’s that bad?”

“Good old PTSD, ruining my life.” Jayna cracked. Isla didn’t laugh. Jayna’s chuckle faded to a sad smile. “I know it’s not funny. It’s just rather easier to deal with if I’m not scared of it.”

“Scared of it? What’s ‘it’?” Jayna tried to focus her sight on Isla but her gaze kept sliding off. Isla grabbed her arms as she started to fall out of her seat, worry evident in her eyes. Jayna waved an unsteady dismissive hand.

“M’fine.” She slurred. “I don’t know why I’m suddenly… So… Sleepy…” Jayna yawned and blinked slowly, trying to keep her eyes open.

“Jayna I think you need to go to the Hospital Wing.”

“Oh.” Jayna said very softly and then toppled forwards, her head smacking into Isla’s shoulder as her eyes closed.

 

_I… I don’t know where I am. I was at Hogwarts… Isla- Who’s Isla?_

_“What’s ‘it’?” That voice… I know that voice…_

_“M’fine.” I know where I am. Mother’s face swims into focus as she strokes my hair. She’s not usually this affectionate, but I scared her today I think. Strange; I don’t even remember falling down the stairs. I must have done though as Grandfather says he tried to catch me. I want to smooth the frown lines from Mother’s forehead and tell her not to be cross with him but… “I don’t know why I’m suddenly… So… Sleepy.” I manage. Mother tries to smile at me._

_“It's probably a concussion.” She says, quietly. “Don't close your eyes, Jayney.”_

_“Oh. What is a... 'Consion'?”_

_“A concussion.” She corrected. “It happens when you hit your head hard enough.”_

_“I didn't hit my head.” Mother narrows her eyes at my blurted out comment._

_“Really?” My stomach drops, suddenly wide awake, my heart in my throat as I remember._

_“No Mum-” I revert back to English in my panic, fear rising in my throat as I push myself up on my elbows to look at her properly, “He hit me- Mum, Grandfather hit me I can’t do what he wants anymore, I can’t I can’t I can’t-” I chant hysterically, my voice rising. I cut myself off as I feel a chill from the now-open door and light spills into my room._

_“Roland-” My Mother starts rising from her chair, hand going to her wand. I close my eyes, turning away from him, tears welling in my eyes and leaking down my cheeks as I waited for the achingly familiar words._

“Obliviate!”

 

“We’ve really got to stop meeting up like this.” Jayna cracked her eyes open. James sat on the end of ‘her’ Hospital-Wing bed, alone, snacking on some Honeydukes chocolate. She suspected it might have been hers. The Hospital Wing was not empty this time; but Jayna could not see who was behind the curtains that covered the bed across from hers. She did wonder why this bed had become the one she always used; it wasn’t close to the door. “You really scared Isla. Honestly. No consideration for other people.” Jayna couldn’t manage anything wittier than a roll of her eyes. “What happened? Did you just collapse from exhaustion?” Jayna knew he wouldn’t believe that for one second if she tried to lie to him.

“No, another memory.”

“Really? You didn’t have a fit like the other times you’ve passed out.”

“It was more like a bittersweet dream than a nightmare.”

“Want to talk about it?” James asked eventually, not looking at her. Jayna paused.

“Not really.” She replied, carefully, hesitantly, the atmosphere between them one she wasn’t used to. James didn’t do serious with her. Jayna had accepted he didn’t really take her seriously ever. She knew he cared… Knew that he considered her to be a friend… But he always tried to keep it light between them. Sometimes she appreciated it; when the rest of the world seemed to talk to her like the apocalypse was going to happen at any moment. Sometimes… Sometimes she wondered what it would be like for James Potter to stare at her with depth in his gaze, like he’d cherish the time they had together.

She wondered what it would be like if his gaze mirrored hers.

“You’ve got to talk about it at some point you know.” James said, still concentrating on his chocolate. Jayna didn’t reply.

James finished off the chocolates and stood, without another word, and walked to the Hospital Wing doors, letting them swing shut behind him. Jayna had an uneasy feeling that something had just changed between them, and she wasn’t entirely sure she liked it.

 

James Potter glared angrily at the wall opposite the Hospital Wing doors for a full minute after they swung shut behind him.

It had been a stupid idea, but he’d honestly thought that maybe Blackwood would open up to him if he came on his own… And even though it hadn’t worked he felt a sick feeling churning in his stomach as he realised that what he’d been planning on doing was messing with Jayna’s feelings in order to understand Jayna’s… Feelings. Now he was just confusing himself.

“I’m not going to say I told you so Dwp but…” James didn’t jump at Sam’s voice; he’d heard her familiar footsteps a mile away.

“I just thought that, you know, because she… _Likes_ me I might be able to get her to spill. It’s not healthy what she’s doing now Sam. Look at her! She looks like she has one foot in the grave already.”

“It’s also not healthy to manipulate one of your best friends’ emotions just because you want answers.” Sam pointed out gently. “I know you’re worried; we all are. But all we can do is be supportive.”

“Maybe we’re not being supportive enough though! What if she thinks that we think the Secret is more important than her; what if she thinks that she’s only important because of what she remembers?!” James felt like hitting something in frustration.

“James I know it’s hard seeing someone in pain and not being able to do anything-”

“She’s not just someone! She’s- She’s-” He struggled for adequate words, “She’s Blackwood! She’s clever and pretentious and generous and scary. She’s my friend Sam.” He took a long-suffering breath. “She’s my friend.” He hung his head. Sam put a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly till he looked up again.

“Jayna needs you to just be there for her right now. That is what you have to do. Even though it’s painful to watch her deteriorate, even though you want to shake the truth out of her; you have to just be there. Let her work through it James. Let her be.” James let himself lean into Sam’s hand for a second, momentary weakness, and then stood up straight and nodded. “Do you…” Sam trailed off.

“What?” Sam looked at him and then shook her head.

“Do you want to go flying?” James made a noise of agreement and they walked away, not looking back at the Hospital Wing, or the girl inside who’d heard every word.

 

_You don’t want to be heard_

“Wands out everyone.” Lydjah called tiredly. The two Ravenclaws made a right pair; Jayna, slightly malnourished and shaken, and Lydjah, pale and haunted. Lydjah was leaning lightly on Jayna, having been ill for most of the week. Despite everyone’s protests she had insisted on coming to the Trials and had glared at the seven in them in turn when they tried to talk her out of it.

She led the way in. They were met, again, with the empty room and the locked door. James and Sam sighed unanimously. It wasn’t as if they wanted to be fighting for their lives every weekend but… The Trials had almost become boring.

“I’m thinking muffling spell and Imperturbable charm?” Albus said. Before the rest of them could do more than nod, the two Hufflepuffs cast the spells, and the door swung open again.

“I swear I’ve probably lost more calories walking down to this bloody room than I have at Quidditch practice.” Sam grumbled.

“I don’t know; Chloe is pretty relentless.”

“I know; the look on her face when Fred called her Nutty’s girl-”

“I thought she was going to murder him with his own bat.”

“I’m going to St Mungos.” Jayna announced, cutting through their light-hearted banter. She looked down at her shoes.

“Good.” James said roughly.

“I can’t talk about it with you- with you guys,” She amended quickly, hoping her blush wouldn’t give it away, “but I hope maybe someone there- maybe someone there can help.” She bit her lip. “And… I just wanted to thank you all. For giving me space. I know it’s difficult.” Scorpius nodded at her, and she managed a small smile.

“When are you going?” Jayna didn’t look at James as he spoke, starting to walk off again.

“After the Trial tomorrow.”

“When will you be back?” He fired back, a little trickle of concern leaking into his voice, and confusion at her refusal to look at him.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m staying at St Mungos.”

“Why not?”

“St Mungos doesn’t do mental health. It may be magic that caused my- my issues but it’s the issues that are affecting me now.” Sam shot him a look as he opened his mouth to ask another question. He ground his teeth together, but kept silent.

Slowly Jayna fell back into step with him, until they were walking side by side at the back of the group. Without warning she stopped, grabbing his arm to stop him as well.

“What-”

She cut him off by throwing her arms round him and squeezing him tight. He froze, confused, as she hugged him more strongly that she ever had before, going as far to bury her head in his jumper. Before he realised what he was doing his arms snapped up to hug her back just as fiercely, pretending he couldn’t feel her shoulder blades through her robes, resting his chin on top of her head, chuckling at their height difference. He just knew Jayna was scowling at him.

 

“Wow you really meant right after the trial huh?” Albus mused as Jayna wandered down to the Secret room, a sizeable bag in her hands, and wearing casual robes instead of her school ones. She’d pinned one side of her hair up with a flower clip. It struck the seven of them then, just how young Jayna was when her Grandfather started torturing her. She was only a kid now, let alone then.

“Don’t give me that look you guys. Let’s go.” She said, with a small smile, placing her bag outside the door.

_Riddle me this_

“Guessing the Ravenclaws are taking this one.” James said, after reading out the clue. Jayna pulled a face.

“Jay-Jay’s terrible at riddles.” Lydjah interjected. “But probably still better than you lot.” The eight of them filed into the room, the expected click of the door locking behind them.  
Albus felt his heart thunder in his chest as the eight of them stared up at the giant beast in front of them. It had the face of a woman, but the body of a lion, golden fur climbing up all the way to her chin.

“Sphinx.” Scorpius hissed, between his teeth. Albus swallowed.

“So. Er. I guess we ask for the riddle?” James piped up.

“Hey!” Sam yelled. “What do you want?” The other seven stared at her in horror. She shrugged. “Better cut to the chase.” Scorpius frowned, assuming it was a Quidditch metaphor.

The Sphinx didn’t respond.

“I don’t think she can hear us.” Scorpius mused, almost absently. They looked at him.

“ _Sonorus_!” Albus said, pointing at Sam’s throat.

“WHAT THE-” Sam cut herself off as her voice echoed around the chamber. The Sphinx looked down at them, baring her teeth.

“Shit.” Lydjah whispered.

“ERM CAN WE HAVE YOUR RIDDLE PLEASE?” Sam asked, looking appropriately terrified as the Sphinx snarled at them. The Sphinx licked her lips.

“The first is a thorn, a seed,  
That has teeth as sharp as me,  
The last is the last to send,  
The middle of middle and the end of end.”

Before the eight of them could do more than absorb the words, Sam, James, Molly, Lien, Jayna and Lydjah found themselves trapped behind a giant glass wall.

“WHAT?” Sam asked, confused. The other five covered their ears in pain.

“ _Quietus_!” Jayna hissed, putting Sam’s voice back at normal volume.

That’s when the sand began to fall.

The six trapped friends looked up, seeing their glass prison actually formed a dome high above them, where sand was rapidly falling down to a pile in the centre.

“Are we in an hourglass?” Lien whispered.

It took ten seconds for the sand to cover their feet.

“Guys we’ve got to keep on top of the sand-” Sam began, stopping herself as she realised she couldn’t lift her feet up above the sand, no matter how much she strained.

“Quick sand?” Lien asked, grimly. They turned panicked eyes to Scorpius and Albus who were staring at them in horror.

“Answer my riddle.” The Sphinx suggested, in a bored tone of voice. Scorpius and Albus shared a look.

“A seed that has teeth?” Albus said, slightly hysterically. “Seeds don’t have teeth!”

“The last to send? Some kind of really shitty owl?” Scorpius bounced back, pacing. The Slytherins could not hear their friends behind the glass; it was entirely up to them.

“Can we block the sand?” Jayna asked of the others, the sand climbing up her calves.

“I don’t think we could aim well from this far away.” Molly pointed out.

“Potter; could you transfigure the sand into something else?” Jayna tried again.

“Finally admitting I’m better at Transfiguration that you?” James cracked. She glared at him. “I don’t think so; I can’t do the sand as a whole, I’d have to do each grain separately.”

“Anybody have an idea?” Jayna said finally, looking at Lydjah. Lydjah caught her gaze.

“I know the answer.”

“What?”

“To the riddle. I know the answer.” Jayna tried to keep her balance as the sand reached her waist.

All of a sudden, the sand at the opposite side of the dome began to rise together, forming a wave of churning sand.

“That doesn’t look good.” Sam said bluntly. Lydjah snatched her wand out of her pocket and brandished it fiercely at the glass wall in front of her.

“ _Flagrate_!” She scrawled the word ‘bird’ on the wall as the sand trapping their legs dragged them back into the churning sand wave. Lien was screaming and Albus was frozen in horror, watching their terror.

“ _Sonoros_!” Scorpius tried. His wand didn’t even light up.

“We can’t use the same spell twice!”

“It’s bird!” Scorpius yelled, as loudly as he could. “Bird!” The Sphinx didn’t even look at him. He cast his eyes round the room, trying to find something to get her attention. Albus squared his shoulders.

“ _Avis_!” From the end of his wand, three birds flew out, towards the Sphinx’s eyes. She blinked, growling at the birds that were no bigger than one of her toes. Then her eyes narrowed at them, recognising what they were. She looked down at Scorpius and Albus and sighed, disappointed.

Albus didn’t remember closing his eyes but the next second he was opening them, stood outside the Secret room.

“We did it?” Albus asked, looking around for Scorpius. The blonde-haired boy didn’t answer him, looking instead with a wince at the _very_ sandy bodies of their friends.

Jayna was retching up sand, James was laughing (“Why did you _swallow_ it?” “For Merlin’s sake I didn’t mean to!”), Sam was scowling as she tipped the sand out of her pockets, Lien was making more headway than the rest of them; her tears clearing the sand much more quickly, Molly was using her nails to scrape the sand off her bare skin and Lydjah was staring off into the distance, her eyes cloudy.

“Lydjah?” Scorpius asked hesitantly. She blinked and focused back in on them.

“ _Aguamenti_!” Jayna shrieked as Lydjah’s wand spurted cold water all over her. She tried to wriggle away until she saw how the sand was washing off her and pouted, shivering but still. “ _Ventus_!” She said kindly, a few seconds later, drying Jayna off again. Jayna stood up from her damp puddle and grabbed her bag.

“Lydjah-”

“I know; take meticulous notes in every class, blackmail James into taking notes in Muggle Studies; got it.” James started to protest, but Sam punched his shoulder.

“I’ll see you all later. Hopefully by next week I’ll be able to just continue with the therapy at school.”

“Do you want us to visit you?” Lien asked, gently. Jayna hesitated.

“I’ll… I’ll see how I’m doing. I’ll owl you all ok? I lo-” Her voice broke and she cleared it. “I’ve got to go. Bye guys.” She grabbed her bag and strode off without looking back, her spare hand shaking at her side.


	21. Of Demons and Sessions

_29 years ago_

_Celina Daviau’s wedding day was the best and worst day of her life._

_She was barely an adult, about to marry the love of her life, about to seal a deal that would cost her freedom. Celina Daviau was clever, had always been clever, but even she was no match for the years of secrets that Roland dealt in._

_She’d chosen Luca the day her parents had forced her to, and she would do it again in a heartbeat. She hadn’t seen her parents since. Roland she’d seen on occasion, but she wasn’t naïve enough to believe that meant he hadn’t seen her._

_From her house they’d gone to Luca’s childhood home. As soon as Roland had left them they’d planned their escape; not knowing or caring why Roland had approved of their engagement, only knowing it wouldn’t last. Anton knocked on Luca’s bedroom door just as Celina slammed the lid on their trunk closed. He came in, not even acknowledging Celina, his eyes angry and betrayed._

_“Brother-”_

_“I told you to break up with her._ I told you _it was dangerous.”_

_“Father approved our marriage-"_

_"Father has given up on you. He thinks you're a waste of space and a disgrace to the Blackwood name. Your marriage to the Halfblood has some other purpose for him. But he can't stand the sight of you.” Celina sucked in a sharp breath. Luca didn’t even flinch._

_“What else is new?”_

_“No you don't understand. He's given up on_ you." _It took Celina a second longer than it took Luca to understand._

_“No.”_

_“I'm engaged to Noemi Lebeau. Are you happy now brother?”_

_“I didn't know-”_

_“Of course you didn't. Do you think I'd be standing here now if you did? You didn't think; that's the problem. But it's too late now. It was only a matter of time. You've spent years taking the majority of all the shit around here. It was going to happen eventually. At least one of us got to choose. I'm not going to forget,” Anton said, jabbing a finger at Luca so that he’d understand the intent, “but I'll forgive. I came to warn you.”_

_“Warn us? Of what?” Celina asked, when Luca didn’t respond. Anton flicked a bored glance at her._

_“This,” he said, gesturing at their trunk, “won't work. The property is warded."_

_“What happens if we break the wards?” Luca asked, voice hard, knowing he wouldn’t like the answer but needing to ask anyway._

_“Christophe's life is forfeit.” This time Luca did flinch, gripping the bed frame instead of Celina’s hand, worrying he’d break her fingers if he tried._

_“He would kill his own son to keep us here?”_

_“He has three.” Luca and Anton answered, in eerie synchronisation. Celina had a harrowing feeling that this was not the first time Roland had used Christophe’s life as a way to keep them in line._

_Luca turned to Celina, everything and nothing in his expression and Celina understood as she let out a shaky breath._

_“We're not leaving.” She confirmed to Luca, an assurance and damnation._

_“Actually you are.” Roland offered a polite smile from the doorway, barely more than the corners of his mouth turning upwards. “We're moving to England after the wedding.”_

_“England?” Celina asked, when Luca and Anton said nothing. Roland ignored her._

_“You will complete your schooling here, but our main house will be there.” Celina wondered if there’d ever been a time when this family had a home, not just a house. She doubted it. “Ten days is a rather short engagement, but there's a lot to be done. The wedding cannot wait.” Roland left without another word._

_“Ten days?” Celina whispered._

_“I should never have come to your house, C, I am so sorry-” Celina put her hands over his mouth to stop him. Anton gave a wry smile._

_“This life of yours is fucked up, but there's no-one else I'd rather be living it with.”_

_“Practically vow-worthy.” Anton quipped. Celina flipped him off. He left the room cackling._

_Fast forward ten days and Celina was walking herself down the aisle, heart-breaking even as her blood sang in her veins to close the distance between herself and Luca. Luca, she could never regret. Luca, with his easy smiles and short temper, with the way he looked at her with awe in his eyes no matter what she looked like, Luca, who had tears running down his cheeks as she walked closer to him, who was fiercely protective of his brothers, who loved deeply and freely, for Luca, she could endure._

 

Lydjah hadn’t been without Jayna for longer than half a day since Jayna and James were kidnapped. Then she had been concussed for most of the time Jayna was gone and besides, it was too extreme circumstances to really think about it.

Lydjah wasn’t… Nice. She sighed, blowing her hair off her face, and Lee arched an eyebrow at her. Lydjah felt her gaze and opened her eyes, staring at the mostly empty dormitory. Riley and Paige were out, probably getting some scoop from somewhere knowing them, and Jayna was hopefully at St Mungos. It would be a quiet night at least. Lydjah’s nightmares weren’t loud.

“I thought you and I were similar last year.” Lydjah said eventually. Lee folded the corner of her Quidditch manual and closed it, sensing this was an actual conversation starter as opposed to an offhand comment.

“I didn’t.” Lee said, when the pause was too oppressing. Lydjah slanted a look at her.

“We both avoided people. I do it because I want to. I don’t like people. But you hold yourself in check.” Lee blinked at her, neither confirming or denying but Lydjah knew she was right. Lee’s reasons were her own but the truth remained the same; Lee was a sociable person forcing herself not to socialise. “Jayna’s the reason I have any more friends outside of Jayna. I follow her example. She’s good with people, even when she’s trying not to be. I don’t know how to interact with them without her. Individually maybe, but as a group I’m lost. If Jayna and James hadn’t been kidnapped… I wouldn’t have even tolerated half the people in my group. I still don’t know if I like them. I just don’t think about it because they’re never going to go away now.”

“You can’t let Jayna just lead your life for you. She’s not going to want to do it forever.” Lydjah didn’t flinch, but she did tense slightly, before visibly letting it go. “That’s what you’re scared of isn’t it? That Jayna is just going to give up on you? That you’re too much of a fuck up for her to spend her time on?” Lydjah gave her a bored look. Lee shrugged, picking her book back up. “She’s a bit of a fuck up too if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Jay-Jay is a mess.” Lydjah agreed, tracing patterns into her covers. “But she’s better at recovering than I am. Trust issues are an absolute bitch.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Lee said coolly.

“Careful Lee, people might think you care.” Lee snorted. “When you throw what I told you that night back in my face to try and buy some space between us, don’t do it around the others. I don’t want them to know.” Lee inclined her head to show she’d heard, but didn’t reply.

Lydjah closed her curtains and went to sleep.

 

Transcript from Session One  
Subject: Jayna Ivonne Blackwood  
Healer: H. N. Cattermole

_Cattermole: Hi Jayna._

_Jayna: Hello._

_Cattermole: I’ve enchanted a quill over there to record this session for my records. No-one else can read them but me. Is this alright?_

_Jayna: Yes._

_Cattermole: So I’m going to be direct and not waste any time. I have your case file here but that doesn’t say everything. I wonder if you could talk me through it._

_Jayna: Is this the point where I launch into talking about my mental state and then you point out you didn’t directly ask about my mental state, you could have meant just me as a person, and psychoanalyse how I think my mental state defines me?_

-

_Jayna: Sorry I’m nervous_

_Cattermole: And why’s that?_

_Jayna: I’m scared talking about it will trigger…_

_Cattermole: A memory?_

_Jayna: Yes_

-

_Cattermole: I did originally mean your ‘mental state’ as you put it._

-

_Jayna: I… My family- most of my family- died in a fire last year. I really struggled, am still struggling, with the grieving process. On top of that, from then on memories have been triggered that were previously magically suppressed of my grandfather torturing me. I still have a kind of rocky relationship with my sister and I’m feeling a lot of pressure at school. That’s about everything._

_Cattermole: I’m sorry for your loss._

_Jayna: Thank you._

_Cattermole: Do you think you view one of these problems as greater than the others?_

_Jayna: Isolated I think I would be able to deal with each of these problems. They are all, however, entangled, and it appears I cannot solve one without facing the other three, and that is something I can’t currently do without having some sort of breakdown. So no, not really._

_Cattermole: How many people did you lose in the fire?_

-

_Jayna: Sixteen._

_Cattermole: Sixteen?_

-

_Cattermole: Can you tell me their names?_

_Jayna: Their names? Why do you want their names?_

_Cattermole: I want to know if you can say them._

_Jayna: Oh._

_Cattermole: You don’t have to-_

_Jayna: Logan, Elenore, Heather- Roland, Jozlyn, Corinne, Christophe, Matt- Matthieu, Anton, Noemi, Christian, O- Oceane_

-

_Jayna: Celina. Luca. Ale-_

-

_Jayna: Aleron._

_Cattermole: Sorry what was that?_

_Jayna: Aleron._

-

_Jayna: Devin._

-

_Jayna: Excuse me._

Session ends

 

James had sent Jayna five letters since she’d been gone.

His owl had returned them all.

“James it’s been a day. I’m sure she’s fine.” Sam said pityingly as James read through his letters by the common room fireplace for the third time that evening.

“And if she’s not?” He asked quietly, an edge to his voice.

“Then she’s still in the best possible hands.”

“What if she’s gone to one of those places where they try and shock the truth out of you?”

“Jayna is not a spy captured by enemy hands.” James eyes widened in horror.

“She could be! Her uncle could have gotten hold of her- Fucking hell we have to get her now-”

“ _Petrificus Totalus_!” James’ limbs snapped together, frozen in place, forcing him to topple off the sofa face-first. Sam let him continue to breathe carpet while she spoke. “Do you think she wouldn’t have thought of that? Think of how long Madam Longbottom’s been campaigning to get her to go and get professional help. She’s had plenty of time to completely scope out her options. Calm it.”

She tilted him up by his shoulders just enough so she could see his face. His eyes weren’t panicked anymore, merely annoyed. She lifted the charm from him and he wordlessly sat down on the sofa again. He glanced at his letters one last time before chucking them into the fire. “I’m going to find Yasmin.”

“Ditching me for your girlfriend is slightly harsh.”

“So is jinxing me.” James pointed out. Sam tilted her head, acquiescing.

“I might go find Lee then.” Sam challenged, a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Fine.” Sam’s smile faltered when James didn’t return it. She shrugged.

“Fine.”

 

Transcript from Session Two  
Subject: Jayna Ivonne Blackwood  
Healer: H. N. Cattermole

_Cattermole: Hi._

_Jayna: Hello._

_Cattermole: Did you sleep well?_

_Jayna: Is that meant to be funny?_

_Cattermole: Only if you find it amusing._

-

_Jayna: You know I didn’t sleep well. Do I look like I slept well?_

_Cattermole: You do look rather haggard._

_Jayna: That’s putting it nicely._

_Cattermole: Was it memory or fiction last night?_

_Jayna: Fiction. For once._

_Cattermole: Do you want to talk about it?_

_Jayna: No._

_Cattermole: Then do you want to talk about how you’ve sent all the letters your friends have owled you straight back to their owners?_

-

_Jayna: I didn’t realise I was being spied on._

_Cattermole: I cannot help you if you do not give me all the pieces of the puzzle._

_Jayna: So you’re going to steal the pieces instead?_

_Cattermole: So you admit that is a piece?_

_Jayna: Don’t put words in my mouth._

_Cattermole: When you’re pissed off do you always shut off?_

_Jayna: What kind of a question is that?_

_Cattermole: An honest one._

_Jayna: An honest answer then. No._

_Cattermole: Which would you say was the more genuine anger? When you’re passionate or when you’re trying to scare someone away with your anger?_

_Jayna: How is this relevant?_

_Cattermole: Maybe it’s not. What do you want to get out of these sessions Jayna?_

_Jayna: You’re full of stupid questions today._

_Cattermole: You know that nothing can stop your memories from coming back now that your grandfather is dead. And that you can’t risk forgetting them again without potential brain damage-_

_Jayna: Don’t make me lose them again!_

-

_Jayna: They’re important. I don’t want to have secrets from myself._

_Cattermole: Then what do you want?_

_Jayna: I want to stop being scared of them! I want to know that he’s dead and nothing can let him hurt me again! I want to feel safe, I want to stop throwing up everything in terror, I want to just cry about my family and not feel guilty or- or **weak**! I want to be able to be with my friends and feel like I deserve to be there that I’m not broken and stupid and-_

-

_Cattermole: Would you like a tissue?_

_Jayna: Thank you._

_Cattermole: Would you like to go and visit your family’s cemetery?_

-

_Jayna: For what purpose?_

_Cattermole: The harsh reality of a grave is difficult to ignore. It could help you cement the idea your grandfather can't hurt you again._

-

_Jayna: Don’t bring any flowers._

Session ends


	22. Of Graveyards and Grumbling

Healer Cattermole was very good at her job. Jayna Ivonne Blackwood was the fifth patient she’d worked with in her time at Magic Isn’t Everything but it was still a relatively small company. As the head of it, she prided herself on only employing people she could trust, whether that be as a receptionist or a therapist, and she guessed that was probably why Jayna had chosen to come here. Not that she had much of a choice, as there were hardly any Wizarding mental health clinics. Hers was one of the first, and she was glad to be living her dream of providing help for the Wizarding world where her mother had not received any. Healer Cattermole’s mother’s encounter with the dementors during the Second Wizarding War had left lasting psychological damage, damage that other Healers couldn’t fix.

Healer Cattermole had obtained an unspecialised Wizarding qualification in healing before forging convincing Muggle papers to get a university degree in therapy. Combining the two made her as qualified as a witch could hope to be considering there was no Wizarding equivalent of therapy until she made her own. She made sure to stress to each of her patients that she was still learning, and they only had to pay her if she’d made a positive improvement on their life. So far, all four people she’d seen before Jayna had left her sessions better off than when they had come in.

Jayna’s story was not the most tragic she’d ever heard, but it was the most complicated. No-one, especially not Jayna, was sure how many memories she had left to uncover, and Jayna seemed almost consciously against the idea of moving on around them. Whether it was because she was loathe to let her family go or, as Healer Cattermole suspected, because she thought she deserved the pain that came with a broken heart, it didn’t matter; her way of dealing with this pain wasn’t healthy. Destroying herself emotionally might not be the most physically scarring method Healer Cattermole had dealt with but that didn’t make it a good idea either.

The November this year was a crisp cold one, biting winds that promised the upcoming winter would involve snowfall. Already, when Jayna breathed out, her breath was visible in the air around her. The warmth of her breath kissed her cheeks, sprinkling a blush across them. The wind made her hair swirl around her face and she pushed it out of her eyes impatiently, striding forward to push open the gate that led to the Blackwood family cemetery. She rested her hand on the cold iron and it glowed white for a second before swinging open.

“The cemetery is warded?” Healer Cattermole asked.

“It’s private.” Jayna confirmed.

“Can I enter?”

“Now that I have opened the gate.” They had to floo to a house Healer Cattermole didn’t recognise to get here. Jayna had informed her that this was one of her family’s properties; initially Jayna and her sister had sold them all, but Jayna bought this one back in the Christmas holidays of last year, needing to have someplace that she could use to visit her family’s graves easily.

It wasn’t until they’d stepped outside, almost immediately after going through the fireplace as Jayna had not wanted to linger, that Healer Cattermole realised they were no longer in the UK. It made sense that her family cemetery was in France, considering her family had always been French, but it was still a shock. The cemetery had been at least half a mile away from the house, but they were still on the Blackwood property. The wealth of it took Healer Cattermole’s breath away.

Jayna still hadn’t stepped inside the gate.

“I found out that the house elves that had worked in the properties Cara and I sold went into Cara’s vault at Gringotts.” Healer Cattermole swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “They died in there. I had no idea.” Jayna took a deep breath. “I’ve hated house elves since I thought the ones in our house left my family to burn. But I think maybe they burnt too and maybe the law enforcers at the scene didn’t mention their bones because they didn’t think it was important.” Healer Cattermole didn’t know what to say. “I’m not very good at apologies,” Jayna continued, “but I was thinking of employing freed house-elves who are struggling with finding paid work to look after this property for me. And maybe,” She took a deep breath, “maybe renting this place out while I’m still at school. I might buy back a couple of our London properties as well, and do the same. I thought it might help. Moving on. I thought selling all the properties was doing that, but that was letting go not moving on. I think maybe keeping hold of them but giving them new life is a better idea.” She turned back to Healer Cattermole. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a brilliant idea.” She said, honestly. She hesitated. “And I think it’s heart-breaking that a thirteen year old is talking about rent and property.” Jayna smiled at that.

“I have help.”

“Oh?”

“My mother employed Gabrielle Delacour to design a lot of our properties in France. I got in touch with her again last summer. It’s surprising she agreed to help me to be honest. I wasn’t very nice that summer.” Healer Cattermole, in her short time knowing Jayna, knew this was an understatement.

“Are we going in?” Jayna nodded. She hesitated a moment later and then turned and strode in. Healer Cattermole followed her through rows and rows of graves until they reached the back. These graves had a thin layer of grass growing over them now, but nothing like the vines that spiralled over the rest of the graves in this place. Healer Cattermole looked around her.

Trees lined the outskirts of the cemetery, a protective fence all the way round, the only entrance the gate they had come through. Flower beds, wild, untamed, colourful, blooming flowers, had spread over the majority of the area. Grass poked between the cracks in some of the older graves, but she noticed there wasn’t a weed to be seen.

“This is a garden.” Healer Cattermole said in wonder. The trees that hung overhead were still vibrantly green despite the late month. She didn’t know how she had failed to notice that the cold air had been left biting at their heels as they’d passed through the gate. Her thick coat was beginning to make her uncomfortably warm. She had thought Jayna didn’t want her to bring flowers because she wasn’t comfortable with the usual gestures of grief, but actually it was because she didn’t need to. The graves they stood in front of now already had little flowers, blue and yellow, blooming near the corners of the gravestones.

Jayna nodded. “My sister,” Jayna cleared her throat, “when we were here for the funeral- I left. I panicked and used accidental magic to apparate back to Lydjah’s house. And I didn’t know till this summer but she’d snapped at the same moment. But instead of running away, she’d turned this bleak broken traditional place into… A marvel. I didn’t understand when I visited here last year, thought that someone must have spelled it like this.”

“You visited last year?”

“Aleron’s birthday.” Jayna whispered. Healer Cattermole gave her a small smile of pride at the use of her brother’s name. “It was a particularly low point.” Jayna pointed at one of the graves. Healer Cattermole was too far away to read the engraving on the stone, but she could see the small glasses balanced on top.

“Were they his?” 

“Yeah.” Jayna said.

“Did you look at the rest of the graves when you came here?” Jayna swallowed and shook her head.

“My mother-” Jayna coughed past the lump in her throat. “My mother, her sister, my grandmother and my step-grandfather weren’t buried here. They didn’t have the last name Blackwood so they weren’t allowed.”

“Where are they?” Jayna rested her hand on the grave in front of her, her father’s.

“Dad would have hated that he wasn’t with mum.” The lump in her throat threatened to reappear. Jayna took some calming breaths. Healer Cattermole noted this was the first time she had spoken about her parents informally. Jayna’s heart ached as she remembered how visible the love between her parents was every time they looked at each other. Her father had always been the romantic of the two but just because Celina wasn’t as expressive didn’t mean she hadn’t loved him back with the same fierceness she had about everything. “We fucked up, adhering to the traditions. Cara and I didn’t know where the Daviau cemetery was. So my family was split up. My mother and Auntie Jozlyn were just… Bones. We buried them under the ruins of our house in England.” Jayna wondered if her parents had managed to rest in peace, countries and a sea separating them. Then again, she wasn’t entirely sure her mother’s rationality would have cared that her lifeless bones weren’t near her father’s, as long as their souls were together. “And we gave my grandmother and her husband’s remains to his family. I don’t know where they’re buried.”

“Does that bother you?”

“I had a worse relationship with my grandmother than I did with Roland.” Jayna eventually said, assuming, correctly, that would answer the question.

“And her husband?” Jayna shrugged.

“We lived under the same roof for my entire life, but I was still closer with my uncles and their families. So no, not him either.”

“I think it might help you to visit Roland’s grave. To know that he’s never coming back.” Jayna shuddered but did as she was bid, walking robotically over to three graves near the front of the fresh ones. Two of them were as fresh as the others, but the final one looked as if it had been there for much longer.

“Jayna Marjolaine Blackwood I.” Healer Cattermole made out, on the front of the older grave. “Your namesake?” Jayna frowned.

“My real paternal grandmother actually.”

“What?”

“Pureblood’s are an incestuous lot.” Jayna said, pulling a face. Healer Cattermole decided she didn’t want to know. She headed to the next grave in the row. “Roland Aleron Blackwood II. 26th of April 1953- 10th July 2017.” The line underneath his name was in Latin. Jayna read it quickly and blanched, horror rising in her eyes.

“What? What does it say?”

“ _Ardet nec consumitur_. Burned but not destroyed.” Healer Cattermole shuddered.

“What a creepy old man.” Jayna bit her lip to stop the smile. She looked at the symbol drawn underneath the letters. The full moon looked back at her; a hooded eye in the centre of it. Jayna realised she’d just stumbled across the symbol of the Nightwatchers. “Is that a family symbol?” Jayna snorted.

“No. Our family symbol is an ebony wand.” She didn’t elaborate. “Broken we stand.” She murmured, still looking at Roland’s grave.

“Sorry?”

“Our family motto.” Jayna said, snapping out of her trance. Healer Cattermole just nodded.

“If you want, I shall leave you to pay your respects to your family.” Jayna looked at her. “It is natural to grieve Jayna. It does not make you weak.”

“Don’t leave the property.” Jayna croaked out eventually.

“Why not?”

“The people who kidnapped Potter and I last year are still looking for us. This place is warded.” Healer Cattermole blinked.

“I’ll stay near the cemetery.” She answered, trying not to let it show how shaken she was at the idea of being kidnapped by a group that had stolen children.

 

Jayna emerged a few hours later, the gate clicking shut behind her. She raised her head to meet Healer Clearwater’s gaze, pulling her robes tighter around her body as the November chill hit her again. Her face was blotchy from tears but her expression was thoughtful. She didn’t say anything, but the small smile the Healer gave her was answered with one of her own.

 

Lien was kind of concerned.

Not just about Jayna, whom they still hadn’t heard from, but about everything that had happened last year. She stood with a cup of tea clutched in mitten-covered hands on the bridge outside the castle, and made a mental list of the unresolved problems from last year.

1) _Who_ had cast the curse in the courtyard duel? Had it been that man that Sam and James had visited in Azkaban? Was it the spy in the school?  
2) Who was the spy?  
3) Did whomever owed her a life-debt, still owe her one?  
4) Who had poured all the blood over Jayna in February?  
5) Had the rest of her friends forgotten these questions or just dismissed them as unimportant?

She drummed her fingers on the lid of her mug. She sometimes wondered if the rest of her group had passions. She still played and wrote music all the time, but… Last year it had seemed important. This year her group was draining themselves on so much horror, so much confusion that just trying to survive was taking all of their energy. Jayna was dragging them all down into her pit of grief and despair.

Albus she knew was also a music fan. And Scorpius was apparently an artist, though he’d never admit it. James and Sam had an outlet in Quidditch, and Lydjah seemed to have an outlet in Fred. Molly spent a lot of time in the greenhouses, tutoring like Jayna did. Jayna was stretching herself too thin. Lots of emotion and nowhere to put it except in words that hurt everyone around her, regardless of if they were meant to. She didn’t need a break; she needed structure, regularity.

Well, maybe a break too.

Lien couldn’t say why, but she had a feeling Jayna had stopped writing and reading when she’d stopped sleeping properly.

Lien took a sip of her tea. Here she was, worrying about Jayna again. It was ridiculous. She caught a hint of a song in the back of her mind and shut her eyes to concentrate better. She fleshed it out in her thoughts, pulling notes and chords out of thin air, not noticing when her tea began to tip out of her mug and off the side of the bridge into the cavern very far below. She breathed in and let the song take over.

When it was done, the last note clinging to the inside of her head like blu-tack she ran inside, not stopping till she reached the music rooms and poured out her thoughts onto the piano. This, this is where she belonged.


	23. Of Returning and Unwanted Touches

_29 years ago_

_Jozlyn Daviau had always been close with her sister. She’d expected that Celina would have replied to her letter by now, but she’d been planning on visiting her parents’ home soon anyway, so it wasn’t that much of a problem to find out for herself._

_“Mum, Dad; I’m home!” She called as she let herself in, clutching a small overnight bag._

_“What are you doing here?” Came her mother’s voice from the kitchen. Jozlyn frowned at the slight edge of hostility in her voice._

_“Thought I’d surprise you. I already ate so don’t worry about tea. Is Cee-Cee home?”_

_“Celina doesn’t live here anymore.” Eugene spat. Jozlyn whirled to face him, shock coating her features. Her father looked as if he had aged years in the last two months; using a stick to support his weight but his back was as straight and proud as ever. Jozlyn had taken more after her mother; not possessing the proud streak that had caused Eugene and Celina to butt heads on more than one occasion. Unlike her mother however, Jozlyn was not very pretty, but she was more intelligent. Jozlyn had always been the only one Celina told all her secrets to; she was too scornful of their mother for her slightly ditzy nature and almost always angry at their father._

_“What?!”_

_“She ran off with that Blackwood boy.”_

_“Luca?”_

_“You knew about him?” Bernadette’s betrayed voice came out of the kitchen before she did. Her mother’s eyes were red and puffy suggesting it was mainly Eugene who was not ready to forgive Celina. Jozlyn sighed internally. She loved her sister to pieces, but it was always drama with her._

_“I’ve never met him. But I knew they were together.”_

_“More than we did then.” Bernadette sniffed._

_“He turned up and proposed to her without asking my permission-”_

_“She’s engaged?!” Jozlyn squealed, happiness temporarily taking over the unease._

_“Married. Or so his father informed me.” Jozlyn faltered._

_“She didn’t invite us to the wedding?”_

_“Because your father told her she had to choose between the two of us!” Bernadette finally exploded. Eugene looked at her sharply. “I don’t know what came over me but I couldn’t stop him and now we’ll never see her again!” She wailed._

_“Mum I think you’re being a bit dramatic-”_

_“No she’s not.” Eugene said, finality in his tone._

_“What?”_

_“She’s a Blackwood now.” Bernadette flinched, as if he’d reminded her of something. “There’s no getting her back.”_

_“Are you actually fucking with me right now?”_

_“Jozlyn!” Her mother scolded._

_“You’re disowning Celina because she fell in love with a bloke who, by the sounds of it, is nothing like his father?”_

_“It doesn’t matter about Luca. Roland wants her to stay with them.” Eugene said._

_“You’re not even going to try and get her back? Talk to her? What is wrong with you?! She’s your_ daughter!” _Eugene stared hard into Bernadette’s eyes as he answered his eldest child’s question, making her listen._

_“No she isn’t.” Bernadette gasped, a sob working its way up her throat, tears building up in her eyes. Jozlyn felt like she’d been punched in the stomach._

_“You’re insane.” She spat. She hadn’t even put her bag down. “Fucking crazy. I’m going to find her. Make sure she’s ok. Send me a letter when you’ve come to your fucking senses.” She whirled out of the house again, but her thoughts were the real tornado. Her sister had been given an impossible choice, and she’d only chosen Luca because he hadn’t been the one who made her choose. She had some words for her sister when she found her, namely why the hell she hadn’t been invited to her wedding, but she was going to find her. They were family. It didn’t matter how long it took._

 

Lydjah walked into the Great Hall for breakfast stifling a yawn as she gazed blearily down the Ravenclaw table. She followed her gaze to her usual space only to find someone else sitting there.

“Hey Lyd-Jah.” Jayna grinned. Lydjah blinked rapidly a few times and studied her best friend. It hadn’t been long enough for there to be an extreme change in Jayna… And yet. She hadn’t put back on the weight she’d lost, or completely lost the smudged purple shadows under her eyes but there was more life in her eyes than there had been in ages. She didn’t look quite so haunted anymore; still scared, but open to the idea that she had more freedom than her grandfather’s cage of terror had initially allowed her. If Lydjah didn’t hate therapists with a passion to rival an exploding supernova she might have asked for her details.

Lydjah wasn’t a hugging person, but she grabbed Jayna’s hand and held onto it tightly. “It helped?”

“Yes.” And really, that was all that needed to be said.

“Blackwood? Shit Sam; Blackwood’s back! Where did you go? How was it? Do you feel better? I was going to plan something for your welcome back party goddamn it Blackwood.” Unless you were James Potter apparently.

James and Sam had sped straight over to the two of them. Sam was watching James prattle with some amusement as she cast an assessing look at Jayna much like Lydjah’s. What she saw was enough to bring a smile to her face as Jayna attempted to answer James’ flurry of questions.

“You ignored all my letters.” James said finally, pouting. Jayna shrugged, apologetic. “Well whatever. I’m sure you’re more worried about your schoolwork.”

“I’ll catch up over the weekend.” Jayna confirmed.

“Jayna!” Jayna looked over her shoulder to see Isla Odell waving from the Gryffindor table. “Are you alright now? Your fit scared the hell out of me. I’m glad to see you’re back! Our Magical Theory class has been very grim with only three and a half of us.” Jayna looked at Lydjah who merely raised her eyebrows, indicating that yes, she had not attended all of her lessons and no, she didn’t care.

“Thanks.” Jayna called back, smiling.

“Hey.” Scorpius had made it over with the other second-years. His quick glance over his friend was much subtler than anyone else’s, and the only sign that he was relieved was the loosening of his tensed shoulders.

“Jayna?” Lien got the Ravenclaw’s attention perhaps because her voice sounded so small and unsure.

“Yeah?” Jayna asked, giving a small smile to the younger girl. Lien pulled out a wrapped rectangular-shaped present. Jayna quirked a look of bemusement but Lien only gestured to the present. Jayna opened it with careful hands, unsurprised to find a book; _Throne of Glass_.

“I think you should read this.” There was a quiet edge behind Lien’s words, as if she knew how little Jayna had thought about books since the fits had started. Jayna, ignoring Sam’s snort of disbelief, raised the book to her nose and breathed in the scent of new pages. The smell soothed her in a way she hadn’t realised she’d missed.

“Thank you.”

 

_Flying is just falling with style._

“I’m ready. Promise.” Jayna smiled, cutting across all of her friends’ concern over going back to the Trials. “Can’t be scarier than up here.” She said, pointing to her head. Lydjah snorted.

Eventually even James stopped fretting, and the eight of them wandered into the Secret room. Only half of them had their wands out.

The door swung shut and they were plunged into pitch black. Jayna opened her mouth to suggest _Lumos_ and then the floor dropped out from under their feet.

A terrified scream was ripped from most of their mouths as they plummeted through the darkness.

“ _Aresto Momentum_!” Sam yelled wildly, and the eight of them jerked as they suddenly hung, suspended magically in the air. “I can’t hold this for long!” Sam said, strained.

“ _Spongify_!” Lien reacted, pointing her wand down to the depths below them. Sam’s spell failed, and they fell again, too filled with adrenaline to do much more than squeeze their eyes shut as they hit the ground-

And bounced, once, twice, and then came to a standstill. Jayna and Lydjah dug their fingers into the floor beneath them, trying to reign in their panicked breaths.

“Is everyone alright?” James croaked, his throat raw from yelling. A resounding chorus of uncertain ‘yeah’s answered him, and he recognised everyone’s voices in the melee. Sam staggered up on shaky legs to stumble to the wall where the door should be. She found the doorknob after several heart-stopping moments and threw it open, spilling light into the room. The others were quick to crawl over to her across the still bouncy floor, but as soon as they were out lay down again, willing their heart rate to decrease to the point where they didn’t feel like vomiting their terror.

“Guess the Guardian got bored of the easy trials.” Albus said eventually, and the others began to giggle, only semi-hysterically.

Jayna watched with interest as Emma Lacey, the Head Girl, made her way up to the podium at the front of the Great Hall.

“Before you begin eating, I believe the Head Girl would like to speak with you all.” Professor Vector said, turning the hall quiet by her third word, despite not raising her voice beyond usual conversation level. Her presence just commanded attention.

Emma made her way up, the only sign of her nervousness in how she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before speaking. “Good evening. I promise this won’t take long. I’m here to tell you about a new idea the Prefects and I are implementing into the curriculum.” She took a calming breath. “Those of you who are in my year group may remember how, in our first year, a second-year Ravenclaw took their own life because of the pressure and lack of support they felt about coming out as non-binary. Their name was Kylac Renyolds, and they were wonderful. I miss them.

“I know the Wizarding community is small, and that most of you will never struggle with your gender identity. However, I do not think that is an excuse to let the small population of people who do identify as a gender different to one they were born with, live in a culture that is woefully undereducated about these issues. The Wizarding world may wish to keep up with their old ways, and that’s fine when it’s lighting and architecture, but when it starts to endanger people’s lives it clearly becomes something we need to change.  
“Though I personally am inspired by Kylac, I know there are many people out there struggling with sexual or romantic orientations as well as gender identity, and many wizarding folk, especially those who have no contact with the Muggle world, may not even know that what they’re feeling is normal. On top of the fact that the Wizarding world has so far failed in giving any kind of sex education,” she was smiling slightly now, “I don’t know if Purebloods have some sort of right of passage where the parents sit them down on their seventeeth birthday and have the talk with them, but I do know it would be a whole lot easier if everyone was educated equally, so that everyone remains safe when they’re having fun.” A few wolf-whistles were let out among the laughter, the loudest from Emma’s boyfriend, Killian. “Anyway, in light of all this, the next week of classes will be off-timetable, non-uniform but still mandatory classes that focus of the issues I’ve spoken about. Tomorrow at breakfast you will be given your timetables for the next week. I aim for it to be a bit of fun, as well as educational, and we would all really appreciate it if you would try and participate as much as possible. Thank you for listening, you’re all very welcome to tuck into your meals now.” The students clapped politely as she made her way down, already beginning excited conversations as they helped themselves to the food that had recently appeared.

 

“No homework for a week!” James sang, throwing his arms around Jayna and Lydjah as they walked out of the Great Hall, burrowing his way into the middle of them, Sam sauntering after him. Jayna jumped in surprise, swatting at his arm, but stopped as soon as she saw the look on Lydjah’s face.

“Get off.” She hissed, glaring at James’ offending arm slung round her friend’s shoulders. James took his arm away with raised eyebrows.

“Lyds?” Jayna asked gently. Lydjah blinked rapidly.

“I’m fine.”

“Did you have a vision? Oooooh what was it?” James asked, practically bouncing. Lydjah shook her head.

“I just don’t like people touching my neck.” She said with a smile, but there was an edge to her voice that wasn’t usually present.

“Like this?” Sam said, her voice teasing as she reached to latch her hand on Lydjah’s neck. 

“ _Petrificus Totalus_!” Sam was face first on the floor before any of them could do much more than blink at Jayna’s spell.

“What the fuck Blackwood?!” James screeched, casting the counter-curse on his best friend as soon as he’d finished.

“Sam I’m sorry for jinxing you but Lydjah said no.” Jayna said firmly, ignoring him. Lydjah rested a gentle hand on Jayna’s arm. Sam got to her feet warily but her eyes were spitting fire.

“It was a bit of fun, Merlin.” She pointed out angrily. “Who the fuck just has uncomfortable areas?”

“ _Me_ for one.” Jayna snarled back. “I hate people touching my hair without permission.”

“Afraid someone’s going to mess up your perfect hairdo?” Sam snorted.

_Wand at her throat and hands in her hair yanking her head back, pinching her nose until she was forced to open her mouth, the potion choking its way down her throat and then-_

“Afraid I’ll have another flashback memory like the last one where someone yanked my hair back and forced me to drink some kind of mind-control potion and maybe in that memory he’ll make me do something a whole lot worse than burn scorch marks into my skin.” Sam flinched back and paled. Lydjah cast a sharp look at her friend.

“But- But that’s different Blackwood, you know, you’ve been through… Stuff.” James said weakly, mussing up his own hair self-consciously.

“We’ve all been through stuff James.” Lydjah said tiredly. James looked at her, clearly expecting an explanation but Lydjah didn’t give him one. “Are you alright Sam?”

“Grand.” Sam said sarcastically, gesturing to her head where a small lump was forming. Jayna winced but Sam shrugged it off with a roll of her eyes.

“Next time you jinx me Jayna I’ll give you a black eye.” She promised.

“Fair enough.” Jayna said eventually.


	24. Of Consent and Fuck-Ups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has specific references to rape and trauma from rape, but it is all in past tense.

The first love in each of our eight heroes’ lives was their parents. This was their only similarity. After his parents, James had next loved the toy Quaffle his mother had bought him, ignoring her husband’s teasing protests that she was trying to turn him Chaser against her (which had worked). Then his other family members, most notably Teddy Lupin, whom he still considered his first brother. Then his blood brother, Albus, as soon as he entered, a screaming wailing mess, into James’ life. Next was flying, then Lily, and now his friends. The last love in James’ life would be motorcycles, as they came late into his life, unexpectedly, through a friend. For now however, James tended to keep his loves close to his heart, leaving him vulnerable, but them under his protection.

No-one touched Mr Quaffle.

James wrote these things down with his battered quill as Sarah Youngs, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain and Prefect, instructed. Trust it to be a Hufflepuff running the session on love. Sam peeked over his shoulder and frowned, biting the end of her quill.

“What is it?” He asked, looking down at his parchment in confusion for what had upset her. Sam just gestured to her own piece of parchment, which read;

_Sam Andrews  
Loves, in chronological order;  
• Alex  
• Billy  
• Hayden  
• Fighting  
• James  
• Lee?_

James looked back at his own list, which almost filled his whole sheet of parchment.

“So what?” Sam shrugged, looking angry at herself for caring. She caught his eye though, and thanked him with a look for not being bothered by how small her circle was. And for not crowing about how he’d made it onto the list. Love, it seemed, was one of them few things James could take seriously.

 

It was well known in the British Wizarding community that the Weasleys were some of the most accepting, least muggle-hating purebloods out there. Not to say all of them were, but the majority were pretty good at adapting.

Molly Weasley was not an exception.

“Hey, Sam.” Scorpius called. Sam and James turned round to see the Slytherin walking to catch up with them in the corridor between lessons, followed by Albus, Molly and Lien.

“What’s up?”

“We’ve got sexualities next. And I was just wondering how long the phases last?” Sam frowned at him.

“The ‘phases’?”

“You know the bisexual phases.” Sam blinked and then started in anger but before she could say anything Molly cut in.

“Oh my Merlin, Scorpius you can’t just ask somebody that!” Scorpius raised an eyebrow. Molly lowered her voice, shooting Sam an apologetic look. “Think of how awkward it will be when the phase ends! One of them’s going to heartbroken.” She said carefully. Scorpius frowned slightly.

“Merlin Sam I didn’t think of that. Please accept my apology.” He said, searching Sam’s gaze. Sam was so confused that she couldn’t even begin to correct them on how wrong they were.

“You’re both idiots.” Lien said, before James could. “Sexuality is not a phase. It’s more like a diagnosis. You might get it wrong the first few times you try to label yourself but it doesn’t go away with time.”

“Or medicine?” James said, incredulous at her fairly terrible analogy. Lien folded her hands in front of her.

“In church we’re taught that through perseverance and returning to God’s light, we can change for the better.” Sam snarled in anger.

“They also try to teach you witches are to be burnt at the stake.” She spat, fuming. She could deal with Molly and Scorpius’ lack of education; it wasn’t really their fault that they hadn’t been exposed to enough diversity. Lien, however, should not be preaching at her about whether dating a woman would send her to hell.

“God meant for us to procreate. That is the truth. And so, surely other sexualities are going against that cause.”

“There’s overpopulation everywhere!” Sam spluttered, having never had to have an argument where she was required to talk it out rather than beat the sense into someone with her fists. Speaking of, they itched where they were clenched at her sides, demanding that she use them to break someone’s jaw. Sam had met plenty of Christians in her life that were very accepting of the progression of society and how loving someone who wasn’t “expected” wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Lien had no excuse.

“Guys you didn’t tell us we were meeting up!” Lydjah called out, still grinning at whatever Jayna had last said to her as the Ravenclaws completed the group. Her smile quickly died on her face as they took in the simmering tension in the air.

“What’s going on?” Jayna asked, carefully.

“No point asking your opinion _pureblood_.” Sam snarled. Jayna started in surprise. James lifted his hands in a calming gesture.

“Hey Sam that’s not fair. I’m a pureblood remember?”

“And the only reason you’re not like her is that your dad was raised in the Muggle world, in _my_ world, where people aren’t such fucking assholes!”

“What’s this about?” Lydjah asked again. Sam pointed a finger sharply at Lien.

“Someone thinks I’m going to Hell for my girlfriend.” Lydjah swung her gaze to the Hufflepuff, looking disappointed.

“What in Merlin’s name Lien?” Jayna gasped. “Even if Hell was real, which it isn’t, why on earth would Sam be going there? She’s not sinning just because she likes girls and boys. In my books, sins are like crimes, and love sure as Merlin isn’t a crime.” Sam felt a twinge of guilt for assuming the Ravenclaw wouldn’t be on her side. She slanted a look at Lydjah.  
“Oh I gave her the sexualities talk about two weeks into being friends.” Lydjah grinned. To their surprise, Lien didn’t back down. In fact, she exploded with an anger they had never expected from her short stature.

“You don’t get to shit on my beliefs just because you don’t agree with them! Fuck you! God is just as real as this fucking Merlin you’re always going on about; and he’s a lot more important! He said lying with someone of the same sex should be punished with stoning; you’re lucky they haven’t done that to you yet.” She said, looking at Sam with disgust. Molly took a step away from them as the others looked at her in horror. She realised after a moment she had gone too far, but it was too late.

“Lien you had better leave right now or I am not going to stop Sam from punching your lights out.” James said, voice trembling with the anger he was trying to supress in order to remain calm. She opened her mouth to apologise, closed it, and then spun on her heel and left without a word. “Sam.” He started, and then couldn’t find the words to continue. Sam, much as she loathed admitting it, was shaken. To think that one of her closest friends thought she deserved death for whom she was dating…

“I didn’t know… I shouldn’t have brought this up. I’m sorry.” Scorpius said sombrely, tilting his chin to his chest. Sam couldn’t think past needing to punch something. She whirled in rage and slammed her fist into the wall, hissing through her teeth at the pain. James hovered next to her, not knowing what to do. Jayna mouthed ‘Hogsmeade’ behind Sam’s back and James nodded vigorously. His light touch on Sam’s shoulder was enough to get his best friend’s attention. They shared a look that was indecipherable to the others before Sam sighed and held out her hand for his inspection. A couple of her knuckles had split but nothing Hospital-Wing worthy. He tugged her fingers lightly, giving her another look, and this time she nodded and followed after him as he began to walk away. James shot the others a reassuring glance but Sam didn’t deign to even turn her head, anger still palpable in the tension in her shoulders.

“Hey you lot,” Lydjah started softly, the raw emotion left lingering in air too new to disturb with harsh words, “why don’t you go to your lessons on this and if you have any questions at the end of the day I’ll be in the dining hall for tea and you can ask me, ok? Take this opportunity to learn, and don’t be put off asking questions.” The Slytherins nodded and left without their usual goodbyes, Albus looking almost as blank as Scorpius usually, and Scorpius a whole new level of chilly.

Molly looked like she was going to cry. Jayna gave her a hug, knowing Lydjah wouldn’t want to, and tried to push all the comfort she could give in that one squeeze. She squatted slightly, so she was eye-level with Molly, still holding onto her shoulders, and Molly was suddenly uncomfortably aware of how naïve she must seem to Jayna, who in some ways had a very similar childhood to Molly’s, but so irreparably different too.

“Mol. You know her best. I didn’t mean to offend her by suggesting Hell wasn’t real; I honestly had no idea she was so strongly religious. That doesn’t mean she had any right to say what she did.” Jayna bit her lip. “And none of it matters in terms of we still have to get the Secret, and sooner rather than later. Can you get her to come to the trials?” Molly thought about it.

“Yes. But it’s not going to be alright for a while.”

“She won’t apologise?”

“She’ll apologise for going too far, but never about her beliefs.”

“Not even an accurate interpretation of the Bible.” Lydjah muttered, under her breath. Jayna gave her a sad smile.

“Thanks Mol.” Molly nodded and, sensing the conversation was over, gave a wave as she wandered to her next lesson, bracing herself for having to deal with Lien sooner rather than later.

 

“Who is this class can tell me what heterosexual means?” Killian Nash, the womaniser turned love-struck Prefect was running this lesson but neither Slytherin was that upset about it in light of the conversation with Lien; they could use a bit of his humour right now.

“Being solely attracted to the opposite gender?” Asher Baddock offers. Killian grins at him and taps his ringed fingers against the desk in approval.

“Correct, five points to Slytherin. Now who can tell me what any of the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for?” Killian was met mostly with a sea of blank faces. Charlotte Ackerly shyly raises her hand. “Yep?”

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans are the first four.”

“Correct, five points to Ravenclaw.” Killian winked at her and she blushed to the roots of her hair. Albus and Scorpius shared an unimpressed look. “Does anybody in here not know what those mean?” Thanks to their gender lesson earlier in the day, they were now well-versed in transgender, and the others even those from the most prestigious Pureblood backgrounds like Scorpius had at least heard of them. “Good, good. Right. ‘Q’ stands for Queer or Questioning, which has become sort of a blanket-term for anybody under the banner. While the LGBT+ community has reclaimed queer from its offensive background, it still makes some people uncomfortable and its best to check with the person you’re speaking to before you go throwing it around like an expert. The ‘I’ stands for intersex. Intersex people are people who were born with mixed genitalia.”

There are a few surprised looks around the room. “Yeah your old folks’ argument about ‘but _biologically_ ’ isn’t holding up well is it?” Killian continued. His grin dampened slightly. “Lots of intersex people have operations done to them after they’re born without their consent to give them the ‘correct’ genitalia and not a mixed set. This leads a lot of problems, not to mention that it’s just morally wrong. Anyway, the A stands for Asexual. Asexual people, or Aces, don’t experience sexual attraction. I should point out at this point that your sexual orientation doesn’t necessarily denote your romantic orientation, though they are likely to correlate. LGBTQIA+ is not an exhaustive list of labels; there are many others like demisexual and grey-sexual that are further to the ace end of the spectrum as well as pansexual which is similar in some ways to bisexual, but they shouldn't be confused.

“However, this lesson is not about getting you to learn all the different labels; if you want to, go ahead, if not, be supportive and understanding of people who do want to. No, this lesson is about informing you that whatever orientation you experience; it is valid. So long as everything you do is consensual by all involved parties, do whatever makes you happy. At the end of the day, we’ve got one life on this earth and we’re better off spending it doing things we love.” Scorpius raised his eyebrows at the motivational speech coming from the renowned bad-boy. “Or the people we love. You know. Alternatively.” Nevermind.

“If you want to learn more about sexualities and you don’t have access to technology, the librarian would apparently be happy to recommend books for you, or you can come and ask anybody who is involved in this week’s activities. Anybody have any questions for me now?”

“What’s the whole ‘phases’ myth?” Scorpius didn’t realise he’d spoken till every head in the room swivelled to look at him. He was notoriously aloof in class usually, but refused to let himself look embarrassed, instead fixing his flinty silver gaze on Killian.

“People, specifically the older generation, appear to have an affixation with pretending LGBT+ wasn’t a thing way back when. With sexualities becoming more and more accepted and people no longer to content to just be lumped in one of two categories, gay or straight, the older generation are apparently incapable of accepting anything outside of those two labels, and think it’s a teenage phase like the year where you have a terrible haircut or the year where you think The Bent-Winged Snitches are a good band.” Albus thought of Jayna and tried not to snort, “Sexuality is not a phase. While you might go through phases of experimentation, it does not make your sexuality any less valid. It’s also not going to suddenly go away; there is never going to be a day when I wake up and do not love Emma Lacey because I suddenly don’t like girls. It doesn’t work like that. Does that help?” Scorpius realised the last question was directed at him and, ignoring the dreamy sighs of the girls around him, nodded curtly to Killian.

 

At lunch, Lydjah and Jayna had decided to go for a mostly silent walk around the castle, hoping the chilly air would rid them of the last bad feeling clinging to them from their disastrous conversation with Lien. Their last lesson had been on consent, and Jayna knew it had put Lydjah more on edge than usual. To watch their classmates learn about consent to prevent anything happening to them the way it had already happened to Lydjah… It was as difficult to watch as it was relieving.

Even Lydjah hadn’t known all the ways Wizarding folk could take your consent away from you. Love potions, regarded as a bit of a laugh, were more disgusting the longer you thought about them. Especially as anyone could slip you a love potion; for anyone else. If, for example, Jayna slipped Lydjah a love potion for Scorpius and Scorpius didn’t know and went along with it, he couldn’t be persecuted despite it being him who would be assaulting the drugged Lydjah. Their consent talk had included how to recognise the symptoms of love potions as well as the Imperius curse (Jayna had received some apprehensive looks for knowing all of those) and spells you could perform discreetly on your friends to see if any other mind-altering spells had been placed on them. Even spells such as the cheering charm could change someone’s inhibitions.

Jayna was increasingly glad that she kept her wand on her at all times.

They stopped on the hill overlooking Hagrid’s hut in the distance, shivering even in their heavy cloaks. It was a grey day, in looks and demeanour, and they felt, in that moment, utterly insignificant. Jayna’s free hand absentmindedly played with her necklace, curling her fingers around her parents’ wedding rings. Lydjah watched her hand for a second before looking back out at the grounds.

“Don’t you think we’re a little too young to be this fucked up?” Lydjah offered to the silence between them. Jayna’s light laugh greeted her efforts and Lydjah felt the beginnings of a rueful smile curl her own lips. “Truth for truth?” She asked, after a time and Jayna tilted her head in agreement. Lydjah breathed in some of the cold air as she decided what to ask of her friend. “Do you think your grandfather raped you in the memories you haven’t recovered yet?” She said, finally, needing to know.

Jayna kept her eyes on the trail of smoke leaving Hagrid’s chimney as she answered, and shivered not entirely from the cold. “No.” She clutched her rings tighter. “No. I was scared about it for a while, especially as each memory seems to get worse in how he tortured me… But it wasn’t like that. The mind-controlling potion he made me take and burn myself… It was more of an experiment for use elsewhere than anything else. Big into making potions, the darker the better in his eyes. And though he had no qualms about torturing me and used it for punishment too, it was mostly to make the memories painful to recall, so I wouldn’t want to. Sadistic but effective. Anyway; rape would have served no larger purpose so I don’t think he did.”

Lydjah nodded, and blew the breath she’d been holding into a visible cloud of steam. There was a long, quiet pause while Jayna mused over which truth to demand.

“Why don’t you like people touching your neck?” Lydjah stiffened and relaxed all in one movement, shifting her weight onto the foot furthest from Jayna because of half-refined instincts she’d forced herself to develop in order to avoid her triggers. Apathy dripped into her voice the same way sadness often coated Jayna’s, and mischief James’.

“The man that I killed.” Lydjah began. Even with the mask of apathy, it was difficult to say. “He choked me while he raped me, to stop me from calling out for help. People touching the back of my neck, from behind when I can’t see them-” She coughed lightly, but even that betrayed the lump in her throat. “It’s triggering.”

“I’m glad you killed him.” Jayna replied eventually. The look Lydjah shot her was bleak.

“On my worst days, so am I.”


	25. Of Bad English Accents and Lots of Introspection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the pre-written chapters; I won't be updating again for a while probably. Hope you guys enjoy :)

_50 years ago_

_“Jayna?” Jayna Marjolaine Blackwood I opened her bedroom door to her cousin raising her eyebrows in slight surprise._

_“When I said to get back to me soon, I didn’t mean ze minute you got back. I’m surprised you even bozered to drop Alexis off.” Roland lowered his eyes in embarrassment but he couldn’t supress the grin curling the corners of his lips._

_“Why are we speaking in English?” He replied eventually, his accent much more pronounced. Jayna rolled her eyes and tutted at him._

_“I don’t want to be over‘eard.” She gave him a considering look. “Are you going to stand zere all night?”_

_“Why, is zere somezing else you zink I could be doing?” He asked innocently, leaning against her doorframe and into her personal space. Jayna went up on the tips of her toes to bring their faces closer together. Just as Roland’s eyes began to slide shut in anticipation she shoved him lightly on the chest and spun away, going further into her room._

_“Business first, cousin.” She chided with a smirk. Roland narrowed his eyes at her but closed the door behind him. She refused to give him the satisfaction of turning round, but couldn’t hide her gasp when he wrapped his arms around her from behind, bending to put his head on her shoulder. He kissed the side of her neck lightly and murmured into her skin._

_“Your wish is my command.” Jayna barely heard him, arching her neck to give him better access, and it as her turn to be frustrated when he moved away to lounge on her bed. “Ze fortune-teller told me zat I will dedicate my life to discovering a mystery I will never find, but it will be found.”_

_“Your_ life?” _Jayna said sharply._

_“Careful, cousin, you might look like you care.” Jayna huffed at him. “Do you know which mystery she was alluding to?” Jayna hesitated a second too long before shaking her head, but she should have known that Roland wasn’t easily fooled. His arched eyebrow was all it took for Jayna to lie down on the bed with him._

_“It’s probably just a coincidence.”_

_“But?” Roland prompted._

_“But one of my contacts in England is convinced zere’s some extremely powerful magical object ‘idden in zat pazetic school of zeirs. Problem is nobody knows what it is, or what it does, only it makes ‘orcruxes look like child’s play.” Roland felt a shiver go down his spine. “‘E zinks that we don’t ‘ave a ‘ope in ‘ell of ridding ze world of ze filz wizout it.”_

_“Do we go to England?”_

_“‘Ave you forgotten zat you are getting married in a week Roland Blackwood?”_ ‘And not to me’ _echoed in the space between them and Roland noticeably drained of interest._

_“What do you want me to do zen?”_

_“Tensions are rising in England, and ze States are getting paranoid because of it. Now is no time to be chasing fairytales. We wait to see ‘ow zis tension will be resolved. We’ll send aid if it’s likely to win, and from zere we’ll work on ze States. If it doesn’t take we will learn from zis person’s mistakes… And perhaps start chasing fairytales.”_

_“What tension?”_

_“Some idealist by ze name of ‘Voldemort’ apparently.”_

_“Inventive.” Roland snorted._

_“Now, now; if ‘e does well ‘e’ll do ‘alf our work for us.” Roland conceded the point with a short nod and continued gazing at the ceiling. Jayna rolled so that she was half on top of him, her legs between his and her chin propped on his chest. He looked down at her, bemused._

_“I believe you ‘inted at some ozer more pleasurable activity earlier, remember?” She teased._

_“Engaged, remember?” He shot back. She rolled her hips and he hissed in surprise._

_“Semantics. You still ‘ave a week of freedom. Spend it wallowing or kiss me, your choice.”_

_Roland grinned wryly as she pulled herself up so their mouths aligned. “Well zat’s not much of a choice at all.”_

 

Lee was the first person in her family to own a wand. In Uagadou, and all of Africa’s Wizarding schools for that matter, the students were taught to channel their magic through their hands. Wands were precision tools used only by some African witches and wizards, and tended to be owned only by those who had particularly pernickety jobs, such as architects. Lee was still better at wandless magic than her classmates, but she only used it when performing destructive spells like _Bombarda_ ; she had no talent for targeting without a wand.

Her father was not often in England, and when he was he found it hard to talk to Lesedi about anything other than her condition. For a world-renowned public speaker, Lee found him rather terrible at talking about what really mattered. Therefore it was her mother that tried to teach her the self-transfiguration Africans were so famous for. They never discussed the other subject Uagadou was known for; Alchemy, because it wasn’t taught until sixth year at Hogwarts and… Well. Lee wasn’t going to see sixth year.

Alone in a clearing in the forest she’d found perfect for practicing her wandless magic, Lee picked up her Beater’s bat and swung it into a tree with a scream of frustration. She hit it again, and again, and again, until finally she put too much force behind it and the bat went spinning out of the clearing, her wrist twisting as it flew out of her grasp. Lee fell to her knees, panting for breath, feeling angry tears and more screams rising up in her throat. Her face crumbled and she covered it with her shaking hands, leaning her head against the beaten tree.

She hated this.

Her life. Everything.

She didn’t even feel sick. She wouldn’t feel sick until she was going to die, and until then every cold or stomach bug had her spinning into a full-on panic attack. What was the point?

“WHAT’S THE POINT?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the birds above into flying away. She watched them go, wondering if everything good was destined to leave her.

“Lee.” Said a calm voice behind her. She spun round, holding her hands up in defence, to find James Potter holding her bat. Out of the shadows of the trees Sam came over to his side, her expression unreadable.

“Go away.” Lee snarled, but her voice cracked in the middle. James shared a glance with Sam. He passed her the bat and left without another word, cold hands shoved into his robe pockets.

“One of my friends just told me I’m going to Hell for dating you.” Sam said, conversationally. Lee started in surprise, and then anger, clambering to her feet.

“Tell me who it is and I’ll beat their face in.” Lee paled. “Was it Lydjah or Jayna? I swear to Nundu-”

“It wasn’t either of them. Nundu?” Lee frowned, flustered.

“It’s a magical creature native to my- native to East Africa.”

“Huh.” Sam twirled the bat in one hand, looking anywhere but Lee before suddenly stopping, her eyes trained sharply on Lee’s hand. “Lesedi; what happened to your wrist?” Sam using her full name was uncommon, but more startling was that twisting her wrist had apparently lost her control on her self-transfiguration of her arms that hid the track marks from injecting the suppressant drugs of her treatment. Thankfully the rest of her arms were covered but it didn’t really matter. Lee held her truths close to her chest for everyone else’s safety… But perhaps sometimes that was too close. Lee knew she’d lose Sam if she didn’t start giving some honesty, and right now that would require more strength than prying a secret from her heart.

Lee turned her wrist more fully towards her girlfriend so Sam could see properly as she edged closer. With a deep breath in, Lee ran her left hand over her right wrist, and the marks disappeared. Sam’s eyes shot to hers. “I have the Dreamless Sleep Potion because I have chronic insomnia,” a stretch of the truth but close enough, “and I come here to practice wandless magic because that’s how African people are supposed to be able to do magic and-” Lee gasped for breath, not realising she’d been holding it in. “And I’m never going to be good enough for my father and I’m not allowed to go home until I’m better.” Better at what Lee left ambiguous, knowing Sam would think it was the magic she needed to improve. In reality her parents did not even have a house in England; every holiday Lee spent in St Mungos or some other hospital, and her parents had no intention of ever letting her go back to Africa where the healthcare was somewhat subpar in comparison. The increased number of deadly muggle diseases there that Lee could easily contract in her last three months where her illness would begin to completely shut down her immune system, was not helping her case any.

Sam grabbed Lee’s hands gently, pulling her back to the present, and to Lee’s astonishment there were tears in her girlfriend’s eyes. “Fuck him. I’ll go to Africa with you.” Lee smiled sadly and shook her head.

“He’s put a tracking charm on me; he freaks out when I get to the end of Hogsmeade let alone a different continent. The trials and tribulations of being a celebrity’s child.” This was true, though it did make her father sound worse than he was. Not that Lee cared; it wasn’t as if her perception of him was much higher. Sam looked furious. Lee wondered how she’d react if she knew she had to ask the Grey Lady to look after her Quidditch kit for her over the holidays because she knew her parents would pull her off the Quidditch team before she could say ‘Mane ya nundu’ if they had any idea she was on it.

“So he forces you all to move over to England for his job and then he basically traps you here?” Sam fumed.

“Him and mum live in a house in Burkinabe actually. They just wanted to me to go to school in England.” Sam’s hands moved to cup Lee’s face. Sam was never gentle, could only be gentle under extreme circumstances, but Lee liked that about her. While everyone in her family treated her life she was a leaf two seconds from falling off a tree, Sam held her like she was strong and dependable and unbroken.

“I might punch your parents if I ever meet them.” Sam said finally, and Lee found herself laughing, though as ever her laugh was tense and quickly over. Sam seemed pleased by it anyway, and she didn’t ask about the track marks. Lee knew she hadn’t forgotten, but she also knew that Sam was aware of how much it had cost Lee to tell even these half-truths. She wouldn’t push it, for now.

 

James knew the best thing he could do was forget that scene in the forest. He'd seen Lee in a more vulnerable state than she'd even allowed Sam to be witness to, let alone him. She only vaguely tolerated him on good days. It didn’t help that Sam and Lee liked to keep their relationship private and wherever James was… There was usually a small gaggle of people watching him out of the corner of their eye, if not outright drooling over him.

James also knew he wasn’t ever going to forget that scene in the forest without magical help, and he didn’t even want to think about the reaction Jayna would have if he asked her to obliviate him, not that he really wanted her to.

He rubbed his face with a sigh as he came into the Gryffindor common room, halting abruptly when he noticed the three people stood in his way. Jas Newport, their Keeper, was slowly blinking down at the two sniggering boys in front of the fire. Jas’ posture was relaxed and loose, which was at odds for the insults the boys were throwing their way.

Although there were LGBTQ+ people all over the school, the majority of those who were out were in Gryffindor, generally because of the bravery it took to be able to express themselves. Jas was in the year above James and tended to wear whatever they felt like that day. Anybody who’d cared to ask knew that Jas had two alter-egos they liked to use, Jasmine and Jasper, for convenience; Jas. Nobody knew whether Jas had been born Jasmine or Jasper and Jas was quick to explain that not all genderfluid people had such clear cut rules like they did and there was a whole spectrum of people out there. For Jas personally, it was stereotypically obvious whether they were Jasmine or Jasper that day, generally depending on their clothes and hairstyle though Jasper often wore make-up in much the same was Jasmine did, and Jas had long since told everyone that they didn’t much care what pronouns were used to describe them. For years the Gryffindors had tried to find out whether there were actually two ‘Jas’s or if Jas was a metamorphagus but so far none of the rumours had been confirmed.

Jas today was Jasper, evident by his black combat boots and bloke’s uniform. The girls’ staircase refused to let Jas up when he was Jasper, which added fuel to the ‘are Jasper and Jasmine separate people’ theory, but that wasn’t the point of contention today. Instead the boys in front of Jas were making comments about his winged eyeliner that James couldn’t help but secretly admire, even if he had little interest in wearing it himself.

“So are you a boy or a girl?” The taller boy asked. James knew their names, but preferred to pretend he didn’t; he didn’t like being reminded that there were people in his house that were as narrow-minded as Lien.

“I’m a Keeper.” Jasper said, sounding bored, brushing a stray hair out of his face with a patient air.

“But what’s between your legs?” Asked the other boy. James blinked a little at the brazen question but Jasper seemed unfazed.

“A broom usually.” He deadpanned. “James. Practice?” James nodded with a slight smirk. Jas wasn’t a person of many words, but James had found them easy to get along with regardless. “Where’s Sam?” James winced on his way to the stairs to collect his things.

“Erm. She might be a little… Late.” Jasper shrugged, not bothered, and James wondered if anything got under his skin at all.

 

Albus looked over at Scorpius just in time to catch his own horror reflected in his best friend’s face before Scorpius schooled his features back to neutrality. They had just left the ‘growing up’ talk which was quite possibly the most embarrassing thing Albus had ever had to sit through. He didn’t want to ever hear the word ‘period’ or ‘menstrual’ near him ever again.

“Oh Merlin your faces!” Molly snorted. Albus and Scorpius tensed slightly as they turned to face her. Molly was dragging a downcast Lien behind her who didn’t look up to meet anyone’s eyes. “At least you don’t have to go through it.”

Albus conceded to her point with an easy smile, earning a thankful look from his cousin. “That’s very true.” He opened his mouth to say something else and then closed it again, leaving an awkward silence to filter over the group. Scorpius, who had been raised in an environment where awkward silences demanded to be settled with smooth words, was the first to cut the tension.

“Lien, what you said was wrong and a complete overreaction but if anyone knows how hard belief systems are to shake it’s me. And I think the beliefs my kind practice might be even worse.”

“Don’t say ‘my kind’ Scorp.” Albus admonished gently.

“Why is everyone so hung up on how wrong my belief system is? I’m not trying to shake it; I don’t _want_ to shake it.” Lien said, more strongly than Scorpius was expecting. A little flicker of darkness passed over his face, too quick for anyone else to catch. For a moment Scorpius wished Jayna was here; she knew that darkness all too well, however much she strived against it. Then Scorpius remembered that like everyone else, she was a force for good that was too much for him. He’d never say it aloud, but sometimes he was jealous that Jayna had been so badly hurt by her grandfather because at least it was easy for her to draw the line between their beliefs. Jayna didn’t want to be like Roland, so she tried to be like the Potters or the Weasleys instead. Scorpius didn’t have that luxury; the beliefs he’d been taught, while primarily wrong, weren’t always so, and they’d done nothing but benefit him his entire life.

This wasn’t something he could hash out with Lien. Lien, while his friend, was, like Molly, never going to be that close with him. Albus was who Scorpius wished he could be; just as much of a Slytherin but with an unbroken shining moral compass. Jayna and him were tied together by their pasts, and Rose was… An unattainable, unthinkable pipedream of the future, but one he’d hold onto until the last of his small shreds of hope were taken from him in the form of an arranged marriage by his parents. The others he was bound to by honour, by the unmistakable bond that forms from putting their lives in danger together with only the other seven to rely on.

The darkness the others saw in Jayna was easily overlooked by the instinct to protect their poor tortured friend, but Scorpius couldn’t escape their scrutiny so easily. Nor could he explain that the after image of the spell they had seen from his wand during one of the trials was from the research he’d asked Rose to help with (though of course he hadn’t told her the real reason behind it either). Scorpius was aware of five things at all times, no matter where he was.

1) He owed Jayna the little happiness he currently possessed  
2) Jayna’s family had not been murdered by accident  
3) There was a spy in the school who had tried to kill Jayna and Cararon, which probably linked to 2)  
4) Rose Weasley was the most beautiful thing he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting  
5) He was no more deserving of her than she was of being shackled to him, knives and all

The research, therefore, had been looking for a spell that could explain how the Blackwoods, almost all competent witches and wizards, and some more than competent (Scorpius didn’t know if Jayna knew how intimidated all the other Pureblood women were by Celina Daviau), had been murdered as easily as taking sweets from a baby. Rose’s natural curiosity and slightly mischievous personality had been easy to harness to this task, and while he kept expecting her to flinch away from the spells he cautiously brought up, all she did was wonder aloud about the potency of dark magic.

Scorpius was jolted back to himself at Albus’ careful nudge of his elbow and noticed Lien and Molly had gone.

“You alright? You looked a little spaced out.” Scorpius flashed him a quick upturn of his lips as he pulled his bag more securely onto his shoulder and gestured down the corridor to their next class.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment/kudos


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